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GENERAL MICAH JENKINS. 



CAREER AND CHARACTER 



OF 



GENERAL MICAH JENKINS, 

C. S, A. 



"Vigiliis 


et Virtute 


By JOHN 


p. tHOMAS. 


COLUMBIA, S. C, 
THE S-TA-TE COMPANY, 

-looa. 



t^ 






3o t;i c^ t 



CO 






True and Eloquent Account of the Life and Achievements 
of One of South Carolina's Greatest Soldiers. 



David's lamentation for Jonathan, 
"fallen in the midst of the battle"; 
Milton's Lycidas, Young Lycidas, 
"dead ere his prime"; Tennyson's "In 
Memoriam," called by Frederick Wil- 
liam Robertson "one of the most vic- 
torious songs that poet ever chanted" — 
these are the classic pictures of the 
early dead that come before the mind 
in their beauty when we think of Gen, 
Micah Jenkins, as elegantly arrayed in 
his uniform of Confederate gray he 
lay, in the symmetry of his martial 
form, stricken to death upon the soil of 
Virginia in the battle of the Wilder- 
ness. 

"A king once said of a prince struck 

down. 
Taller he seems in death." 

More than 39 years ago, Micah Jen- 
kins's brilliant career came to its end, 
in the providence of God, in the 29th 
year of his age. As we take now the 
measure of the man and contemplate 
him in the light of his full stature, as 
revealed to us in his own letters, as 
well as in the letters of his friends 
and comrades, how aptly may it be 
said of Jenkins, as of the "prince 
struck down," 

"Taller he seems in death." 

Of the brigade known successively as 
Anderson's, Jenkins's and Bratton's 
and composed of the famous regiments, 
immortalized in Confederate history — 
First South Carolina volunteers 
(Hagood), Fifth South Carolina volun- 
teers. Sixth South Carolina volunteers, 
Second South Carolina Rifles, and Jen- 
kins's Palmetto Sharpshooters — it is not 
my purpose to treat. That duty — the 



history of a grand brigade tliat won 
the confidence of Lee and his war- 
horse (Longstreet) — I shall leave to a 
gallant colonel of the famous brigade, 
such as Asbury Coward, or to Col. Jas. 
A. Hoyt, or to some Confederate sur- 
vivor who followed the fortunes of 
Jenkins from First Manassas to his 
martial coronation in the wilds of the 
Wilderness, May 6, 1864. 

Acceding to the appreciated wishes 
of the family and the friends of Micah 
Jenkins, my own close friend from 1851 
to 1864, and furnished with all the let- 
ters and memoranda throwing light 
upon the subject, I propose to por- 
tray, as best I can, the career and 
character of a noble South Carolinian 
who was the ornament of his State 
and a thunderbolt of war in the army 
of our Confederate Ilium — our fallen 
Troy. 

In seeking to rise to the height of 
my theme, I shall not base my argu- 
ments upon unsupported statements, 
but shall present the letters and the 
documents to prove propositions and 
to confirm deductions. In executing 
my plan of treatment of my subject, 
I shall present the chief tributes here- 
tofore paid to Jenkins; next Jenkins's 
own accounts of the principal battles 
in which he bore a part, supported by 
the accounts of Longstreet and others; 
next I shall attempt to give a true in- 
sight into his lofty character — to por- 
tray his inner life as a knightly. Chris- 
tian man, as a soldier after the type 
of a Stuart, a Jackson and a Lee; and 
lastly, I shall close with such addi- 
tional points and paragraphs as may 
seem to me the proper ending of my 
memorial work. 



I. THE TRIBUTES TO JENKINS. 



BRIG.-GEN. M. JENKINS. 

(From the Charleston Mercury, May 12, 

1864— an editorial written six days 

after the fall of Jenkins.) 

Micah Jenkins was a third son of 

Capt. John Jenkins, of Edisto Island, 

S. C. He entered the South Carolina 

Military Academy in the year 1851, at 

the age of 15, and graduated in 1854, 

with the first honor of his class. The 

following January he established with 



his classmate, Asbury Coward, now 
colonel of the Fifth regiment of Jen- 
kins's brigade, the Military School at 
Yorkville, S. C, and, young as he was, 
at once exhibited the singular apti- 
tude for command which his after ca- 
reer so signally illustrated. By a 
happy blending of firmness in disci- 
pline and frank and cordial sympathy 
with all who sought his counsel or 
aid, he obtained an early and lasting 
hold upon the respect and affection 



of his pupils, and his success as an 
instructor was complete. 

Before the war he had raised a volun- 
teer company at Yorkville, under the 
name of the Jasper Guards. This 
company formed the nucleus of the 
Fifth reg-iment, S. C. V., which elected 
him colonel, without opposition, and 
was among the first to enter the Con- 
federate service. When General Beau- 
regard took command of the Army of 
the Potomac it was ordered to Vir- 
g-inia — having previously served on Sul- 
livans Island — and bore a creditable 
part in the first battle of Manassas, 
and, following General Johnston in 
his withdrawal to the Peninsula, it 
participated in all the privation of the 
spring campaign of 1862. 

Upon the reorganization of the 
twelve months' volunteers, General 
Jenkins formed a new re^ment from 
the elite of the Fifth, which was styled 
"Jenkins's Palmetto Sharpshooters," 
and with this command achieved his 
success at Williamsburg, and carried, 
with one additional regiment of R. H. 
Anderson's brigade, his part of the 
field at Seven Pines. This was, in 
many respects, one of the most daring- 
and brilliant incidents of this event- 
ful war, for he drove the enemy 
through three of his camps, a mile and 
a quarter beyond the farthest point 
attained by our troops, and rested that 
night, on the ground he had won, in 
the tents of a Massachusetts regiment. 

In command of General Anderson's 
brigade, he shared the perils and glory 
of the battles around Richmond, in 
June, 1862, and after the engagement 
of Cold Harbor and Frayser's Farm 
brought out his Sharpshooters, orig- 
inally numbering upward of 1,000 rank 
and file, with but 125 men; his personal 
aid having been shot down by his side, 
and his own clothes being riddled with 
bullets. His promotion at once fol- 
lowed, and he proved how well it was 
deserved by the skill and g-allantry 
which he soon after displayed at the 
second battle of Manassas, where he 
lost two of his colonels, and his adju- 
tant-general, and was himself severely 
wounded. 

At the battle of Fredericksburg- he 
served under Longstreet, who more 
than once ordered him where the bat- 
tle was fiercest, but owing to the rapid 
fluctations of that field his brigade 
was only partially engaged. 

During the following spring cam- 
paign his command was employed as 
a corps of observation on the Black- 
water, in the vicinity of Petersburg 
and Richmond, from whence he was 
again ordered to Longstreet, and went 
with him to Tennessee. Arriving there 
just after the battle of Chickamauga, 
he was assigned to the command of 
Hood's division; but from the inade- 



quacy of his force was unable to pre- 
vent the enemy from effecting a lodg- 
ment on this side of the Tennessee 
river, and was very nearly cut off by 
overwhelming numbers. 'The extrica- 
tion of his division was, in fact, solely 
due to his own judgment, and to the 
thorough discipline and steadiness of 
his troops. 

From Chattanooga he accompanied 
Longstreet to East Tennessee, and 
served with him in the compaign of 
the last winter before Knoxville. 
Thence he was withdrawn to meet the 
threatened invasion in Virginia, where 
he fought his last battle and fell at the 
early age of 28 years, near the same 
spot by the same fatal accident and 
the selfsame hands which, just one 
year ago, inflicted on us the irrepara- 
ble loss of Stonewall Jackson. 

Before he was of age General Jen- 
kins married the eldest daughter of 
General D. F. Jamison, and leaves a 
tenderly devoted wife and four young 
children to mourn the untimely death 
which our State deplores with a com- 
mon and profound sympathy. 

Thus closes the brief but brilliant 
record of a patriotic soldier; of one 
who to the charms of a manly person 
and a commanding presence added the 
attractions of gentle manners, a most 
placid temper, and a dignified and 
courteous address. His intercourse 
with his friends was ever marked by 
a delightful candor, frankness and 
simplicity, and to all men he always 
exhibited that fairness and generosity 
of conduct which was so perfectly con- 
genial to his own nature. A Christian 
gentleman — in the largest sense of that 
exalted title — he kept his life pure and 
his walk and conversation blameless; 
recognizing as paramount the call of 
duty, and following her voice with 
fearless steps and unwavering single- 
ness of purpose. He was ambitious 
of distinction and strove to win it; but 
he raised himself over his rivals by 
no meanness or indirection, and prac- 
ticed no arts of advancement save the 
honest arts of resolute will and earnest 
endeavor. 

He had no fondness for the bloody 
arena of war as a pastime or a pro- 
fession; but realizing deeply the neces- 
sity of a knowledge of arms to a peo- 
ple w^ho would keep their freedom, he 
devoted his life to this vocation. When 
his country's rights were invaded his 
soldier's instinct impelled him among 
the very first to draw his sword, and 
he never would have sheathed it until 
his honorable independence was se- 
cured. Scrupulously respectful of pri- 
vate rights, he never permitted any 
wanton destruction of property, any 
violence, intrusion or pillage, on the 
part of his command, while he was 
equally mindful of his men, and spared 
no personal pains or labor that would 



conduce to their welfare. By general 
consent his troops were the best dis- 
ciplined, best clothed and best armed 
of the entire division to which they 
belonged. Brave, ardent, enthusiastic, 
possessed of the full confidence of his 
men and of his commander, he was 
often thrust into the forefront of bat- 
tle. He bore himself always with the 
loftiest gallantry. Asking his troops 
to encounter no danger which he did 
not share, he led his impetuous battal- 
ions in a score of stormy fights, and 
fell at last, as a soldier might well 
wish to fall, with sword in hand, at 
the close of a well stricken field, the 
light of the setting sun crimsoning 
his victorious bayonets, and the shouts 
of triumph ringing in his ears. 



DE FONTAINE'S STORY OP HIS 
DEATH. 

(From F. G. De Fontaine, War Cor- 
respondent.) 

BRIG.-GEN. MICAH JENKINS. 

Columbia, Wednesday Morning, 
May 18, 1864. 

Another stern white face is turned to 
the blue sky, and another life holds up 
its silent eloquence to heaven. He 
who wrought in faith has won at last 
his glory and been crowned with the 
garland of eternity. 

It is not loo much to say that from 
the beginning of the contest Gen. Jen- 
kins has been one of the most active, 
efl^cient and accomplished officers in 
the Confederate service. His whole 
career, from early childhood, had been 
a chain of soldierly associations, and 
carrying these into the field, united 
with a brave heart, an indomitable 
will, an air of command, the example 
of a leader, a face and form from 
which there fiashed the inspiration of 
his cause, and, above all, the ambition 
to do his duty, he achieved a success 
which forms the proudest epitaph that 
can be written on a soldier's tomb. 

Born on Edisto Island, in this State, 
he entered the Citadel in 1851, at the 
age of 15, and in 1854 graduated with 
the highest honors of his class. A few 
months afterwards, as we learn from 
the Charleston Mercury, he established 
with Asbury Coward, now colonel of 
the Fifth regiment of Jenkins's bri- 
gade, a military school at Yorkville, 
S. C, and "young as he was, at once 
exhibited that singular aptitude for 
command which his after career so 
signally illustrated. By a happy blend- 
ing of firmness in discipline and a 
frank, cordial sympathy with all who 
sought his counsel or aid, he obtained 
an early and lasting hold upon the re- 
spect and affection of his pupils, and 
his success as a teacher was complete." 
If we remember right, Brigadier-Gen- 



eral Law was also an instructor in that 
institution. 

War being inaugurated, General Jen- 
kins was elected colonel of the Fifth 
South Carolina volunteers, moved his 
command to Sullivans Island, was 
among the first to enter the Confed- 
erate service, repaired to Virginia and 
performed a conspicuous part in the 
battle of Manassas, his position being 
on the right of the main body of the 
army engaged. After participating in 
all the events of that campaign in the 
year 1862, the regiment was reorgan- 
ized under the now famous name of 
Jenkins's "Palmetto Sharpshooters," 
which speedily became, like its prede- 
cessors, celebrated for the perfection 
of its discipline not less than its splen- 
did bravery on the field of battle. 

Attached to the command of General 
Johnston, he participated in the sharp 
engagement at Williamsburg, and at 
Seven Pines, and achieved success with 
his command which would have made 
the reputation of a lifetime. With 
a handful of men he broke line after 
line of the enemy, drove them through 
three camps and finally rested a 
mile and a quarter in advance of the 
remainder of our army, in one of the 
Federal camps. In command of General 
Anderson's brigade, he shared the 
perils and glories of the battles around 
Richmond in 1862, and after the en- 
gagement of Cold Harbor, Frazer's 
Farm, brought out his Sharpshooters, 
originally upwards of 1,000 rank 
and file, with but 125 men, his per- 
sonal aid having been shot by his 
side, and his own clothing being rid- 
dled by bullets. His promotion at once 
followed, and he proved how well it 
was deserved by the skill and gallantry 
which he soon after displayed at the 
second battle of Manassas, where he 
lost two of his colonels and his adju- 
tant-general and was himself severely 
wounded. 

After participating in the battle of 
Fredericksburg, he was detached to 
a corps of observation on the Black- 
water, in front of Suffolk, where sev- 
eral skirmishes were had with the 
enemy. From thence his brigade was 
transferred to Chickamauga and ar- 
rived just after the battle. Taking 
command of Hood's division after the 
fall of General Hood, his career from 
that time until he died was replete with 
honor, and proved that he was indeed 
born to command. The campaign first 
around Chattanooga and thereafter in 
Bast Tennessee against Knoxville 
brought out all the rare qualities of 
his naturally strong mind, and devel- 
oped fully that remarkable energy 
which made him valuable as the right- 
hand man of Longstreet. It was the 
fortune of the writer during this period 
to share the tent of General Jenkins and 
enjoy opportunities for observing him 



in every relation of a soldier's life; to 
observe him calmly directing the 
movements of a line of battle, bearing 
as it were a charmed life among the 
flying balls; to witness him morning 
and night kneeling on his blanket, re- 
turning thanks to the Almighty, and 
invoking blessings on his command; 
and to be familiar with the kind com- 
munion which existed between the 
humblest private and himself. Few 
men have had fewer enemies. No one 
in his position had so little occasion 
to punish offenders against his disci- 
pline, and when the necessity has been 
apparent, a tender heart has always 
gone out to the culprit and drawn 
tears from his guilty nature. Child- 
like, unsophisticated in the ruder 
knowledge which characterizes ordi- 
nary men of the world, careful and 
polite in his conversation, pure as a 
woman in his thoughts, accomplished 
in his manners, frank, confiding and 
generous to a fault, he was in truth 
a Chevalier Bayard "sans peur et sans 
reproche." As an officer he was brave, 
dashing, impetuous and yet prudent; 
had a quick military eye, knowing 
the strong points of a position at a 
glance; never ordering his men where 
he was not willing to lead; and rarely 
if ever blundered. He enjoyed the con- 
fidence of General Longstreet to a 
marked degree; by him was recom- 
mended for promotion to the rank of 
major-general. It is understood that he 
was on the eve of receiving the appoint- 
ment. 

South Carolina has never had a 
nobler representative of her chivalry 
in the field, and no dearer memories 
can be embalmed in the mausoleum of 
the people's hearts than those which 
have hallowed with glory the name of 
Gen. Micah Jenkins. 



COLONEL THOMAS'S HISTORY OF 
THE SOLDIER'S LIFE. 

(From History of South Carolina Mili- 
tary Academy, 1894, by John Peyre 
Thomas.) 

On May 6, 1864, Gen. Micah Jenk'ns, 
a graduate of the South Carolina Mil- 
itary Academy, of the class of 1854, 
fell in battle, killed in the command 
of his brigade, in the conflict of the 
Wilderness. Of the graduates of the 
Academy Micah Jenkins was among 
the brightest and bravest and most 
enterprising. He entered the Citadel 
Academy from Edisto Island when 
quite young. Ambitious, he began his 
cadet life with avowed aspirations to 
excel in his studies. His ideas were 
true and high. Second to none either in 
deportment or scholarship, he gradu- 
ated at the head of a superior class. 
After graduating, in pursuance of a 



previously well-conceived plan, in as- 
sociation with his classmate. Col. As- 
bury Coward, he founded and conduct- 
ed the Kings Mountain Military School, 
which continued in successful opera- 
tion until the War Between the States 
began. Following the dictates of his 
ardent temperament and his patriotic 
nature, with motives as pure and 
courage as true as ever carried Chris- 
tian knight to the battle of former 
days, he entered the service of the 
Southern Confederacy. Here his well- 
known career was brilliant. He re- 
flected luster on his name and left to 
his wife and children a priceless leg- 
acy. In an army where the material 
whereof generals are fashioned was 
abundant, he rose to be brigadier-gen- 
eral, and what seems to flnite judg- 
ment an untimely fate alone cut him 
off from higher honors. 

He was clearly in the line of pro- 
motion. Dasljing as a Murat, Micah 
Jenkins was further a Bayard, "sans 
peur et sans reproche." He was more. 
A scholar, a soldier, a Christian man, 
he was a Sidney, who on another Zut- 
phen would cheerfully have passed the 
cup of water to some dying comrade, 
whose necessity he may have deemed 
greater than his own. Nor was Gen- 
eral Jenkins the man of sanguinary 
instincts and military ambition that 
some persons may have held him to be. 
It was the fortune of the writer to 
meet him on his last visit to South 
Carolina, not long before he died for 
his country on the soil of Virginia. 
He spoke in the confidence of friend- 
ship and with characteristic candor, 
and referred to the idea which he 
knew somewhat prevailed respecting 
him, that he was fond of war's cruel 
sport. He earnestly disavowed the 
sentiment. While recognizing his duty 
in the pending struggle, and thinking 
not for one moment of turning his 
back upon the burning plowshare be- 
fore him, he yet expressed a yearning 
for peace with honor and longed to re- 
turn under such conditions to his 
home. 

But this happy dream of the war- 
rior was not to be realized. The lau- 
rels of industrious soldiership were 
soon to be entwined with the cypress 
wreath. His career in life, though em- 
bracing scarcely a decade since he left 
the walls of his alma mater, was beau- 
tiful, was symmetrical, and had a no- 
ble ending. 

The news of his death was received 
with deep sorrow in South Carolina and 
the public sympathy was illustrated 
in the passage of the following resolu- 
tions by the General Assembly of his 
native State: 

Resolved unanimously. That in the 
death of General Jenkins South Caro- 
lina mourns the loss of one of her 
noblest, most patriotic and accom- 



plished citizens, and the army of our 
country a brave, energetic and skilful 
officer. 

Resolved unanimously. That we hold 
up his many virtues to his comrades 
yet spared, and bid them emulate his 
example. 

Resolved unanimously, That these 
resolutions, together with the corres- 
pondence between Lieutenant-General 
Longstreet and Governor Bonham, in 
relation to the death of General Jen- 
kins, be spread upon the journal of the 
house, and copies of the same be sent 
to the family of the deceased. 



The following is the correspondence: 

His brigade was worthy of such a 
commander, and the mutual trust and 
confidence betwen them was beautiful 
to behold. With such troops and such 
a leader the Confederate cause is safe. 

Few of your countrymen can possess 
the exalted qualities of^this Christian 
hero, but all may imitate his virtues, 
exercise the same faith in a precious 
Savior, and die, if needs be, the same 
glorious death. 

He has left to the youth of your 
State a noble legacy in his dauntless 
heroism and spotless life; I trust that 
his memory will be cherished and his 
noble example will be felt for genera- 
tions yet to come. Yours truly, 
J. Longstreet, 
Lieutenant-General. 

Note. — The General's name is signed 
by me, as he has not sufficiently recov- 
ered the use of his arm to sign himself. 
M. L. Longstreet. 



State of South Carolina, 
Executive Department, 
Columbia, S. C, September 1, 1864. 
Lieut. -Gen. J. Longstreet — Dear Sir: 
Tour estemed favor of the 16th of 
July has been received. It is extremely 
gratifying to me to see this evidence of 
your high appreciation of the lamented 
General Jenkins. From the beginning 
of the war his brilliant qualities had 
elicited the warmest admiration of the 
people of his State, and they watched 
his career with unusual interest. His 
death was a public calamity, but to 
the people of his native State, where 
he was so well-known and so univer- 
sally beloved, it was especially affect- 
ing. His desire to serve his country 
was the one ruling ambition of his life, 
and if he cherished another feeling it 
was to obtain that which your letter 
shows he so well deserved, the ap- 
proval of his commanding officer. I 
have read your kind letter with many 
sad reflections, but not without a feel- 
ing of mournful satisfaction, that the 
State over which I have been called 
for a short time to preside has fur- 
nished such an instance of heroic de- 



votion to our cause. I shall transmit 
your letter to the Legislature at its 
next session as another proof of his 
eminent services and high qualities. 

I have the honor to be, very re- 
spectfully, your obedient servant, 
M. L. Bonham. 



The lamented fall of Micah Jenkins 
is thus described by that gallant young 
soldier, Col. J. R. Hagood: 

I cannot forget the appearance of 
General Jenkins this morning. Ele- 
gantly dressed, as he always was, su- 
perbly mounted, and his face lit up 
with martial fire, he realized to the 
full my ideal as a soldier. 

At this moment General Longstreet, 
accompanied by General Jenkins and 
a number of staff officers, galloped 
ahead of the line until they had 
reached the plank road. There an 
orderly dismounted to take up a stand 
of Federal colors lying upon the field 
and displayed them. Mahone's Vir- 
ginia brigade, advancing through the 
thick woods, mistook the party for a 
body of the enemy's cavalry, and a 
volley from them emptied the saddles 
of Longstreet, Jenkins, a staff officer, 
and two or three orderlies. General 
Jenkins was instantly killed and Gen- 
eral Longstreet badly wounded. 

This is how Jenkins died, on the sec- 
ond day of the Battle of the Wilder- 
ness! 

Were the historian to take up Jen- 
kins's carer in the Confederate war, 
and follow him from battlefield to bat- 
tlefield, and tell of his acts of personal 
heroism, of his military skill and dar- 
ing generalship; were he to relate how 
he won the confidence and admiration 
of his military superiors, were he to 
relate further the wealth of love that 
he bore for his family, for friends and 
country, and the innate nobility of 
his nature, the splendid record would 
occupy a volume in itself. 

Gallant spirit, noble friend; we greet 
your memory as we place your name 
high upon the historic page and renew 
our lament for your death in the 
bloom of manhood. 



BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS. 

(From "Manassas to Appomatox"— 

Longstreet.) 

"General Lee sent Gen. M. L. Smith to 
report to me. * * * General Smith then 
came and reported a way across the 
Brock road that would turn Hancock's 
extreme left. He was asked to con- 
duct the fianking brigades and handle 
them as the ranking officer. He was a 
splendid tactician, as well as a skil- 
ful engineer, and gallant withal. He 
started, and not to lose time or dis- 
tance, moved by inversion, WofCord's 
left leading, Wofford's favorite maneu- 
ver. As Wofford's left stepped out, 



the other troops moved down the 
plank road, Jenkins's brigade by the 
road, Kershaw's division alongside. I 
rode at the head of the column, Jen- 
kins, Kershaw and the staff with me. 
After discussing the disposition of 
their troops for reopening the battle, 
Jenkins rode closer to offer congratula- 
tions, saying 'I am happy; I have felt 
despair of the cause for some months, 
but I am relieved, and feel assured 
that we will put the enemy back across 
the Rapidan before night.' Little did 
he or I think these sanguine words 
were the last he would utter." 

After describing the circumstances 
under which he and his party were 
placed under fire of one of our own 
regiments, and how he was himself 
wounded, Longstreet says: 

"But Micah Jenkins, who fell by the 
same fire, was no more. He was one 
of the most estimable characters of the 
army. His taste and talent were for 
military service. He was intelligent, 
quick, untiring, attentive, zealous in 
the discharge of duty, and truly faith- 
ful to official obligations, abreast with 
the foremost in battle, and withal a 
humble, noble Christian. In a moment 
of highest earthly hope he was trans- 
ported to serenest heavenly joy; to 
thut life beyond that knows no bugle 
call, beat of drum or clash of steel. 
May his beautiful spirit, through the 
mercy of God, rest in peace! Amen." 



Gen. Lee's letter on Jenkins' absence 
from the battle of Gettysburg: 
Headquarters, 
Army of Northern Virginia, 

August, 186.S. 

Dear General: I regret exceedingly 
the absence of yourself and your 
brigade from the battle of Gettysburg. 
There is no telling what a gallant 
brigade, led by an efficient commander, 
might have accomplished when victory 
trembled in the balance. I verily be- 
lieve the result would have been dif- 
ferent if you had been present. 
Sincerely yours, 

R. E. Lee, 
General. 
To Gen. M. Jenkins. 



Letter of Colonel Gage to Gen. D. F. 
Jamison on the death of General Jen- 
kins- 
Union District, S. C, 
Meadow Woods, May 19, 1864. 

My Dear General: My sympathies 
have been irresistibly drawn to you 
since the news reached us of the un- 
timely fall of your gallant son. General 
Jenkins — a chief of whom we all felt 
proud, and in whose success we had a 
right to feel a deep interest, because 
from the beginning of this contest he 
had led into battle our best and brav- 



est friends — old and young. I could 
but feel that it would be gratifying to 
you for me to offer my sympathy, and 
more particularly so when I could tell 
you how the mothers of our gallant 
soldiers wore the memory of this 
young hero nearest their hearts. The 
simplest language is often the most 
touching, and when it falls from the 
lips of those who are not gifted with 
the set phrases of speech, but speak 
at imo pectore, it always means a hon- 
eyed sweetness. Yesterday an old wo- 
man who had three sons and three 
sons-in-law in the army walked eight 
miles to my house to get a little wool 
and flour, and see if I had any news 
from Lee's army later than she had 
heard. This old woman (upwards of 
50) has been once to Virginia and once 
to Tennessee to see her sons and take 
them clothing and provisions. "Oh," 
she said, "I couldn't help but cry when 
I heard General Jenkins was killed, he 
was so good %o my boys; always a 
kind word, a pleasant look, an encour- 
aging one to them. They loved him 
so much, and, although they knew he 
would always carry them into the 
thickest of the fight, they knew they 
would always find him alongside of 
them." That sort of tribute does one's 
heart good, and it has gone from many 
a poor mother's heart in my neighbor- 
hood. It is something for his children 
to treasure up and speak in tones most 
unmistakable of the large heart of the 
gallant young chieftain so untimely 
slain. 

May God in his mercy support his 
wife in this sore affliction and comfort 
you, my dear friend, is my prayer. 
Ever truly yours, 

(Col.) R. J. Gage. 

To Gen. D. F. Jamison. 



Memorandum from Maj. J. J. Lucas, 
Confederate veteran: 

Gen. Micah Jenkins entered the 
State Military Academy in 1851 and 
was graduated by that institution with 
the first honor of his class in 1854. 

It was my privilege to instruct him 
in the drill of the squad, with seven 
others, which occupied three months. 

He showed his fondness for the mili- 
tary profession from the very begin- 
ning of his career, and as a Confed- 
erate officer became the most enthu- 
siastic soldier I ever knew. The last 
time we met in the Mills House, in 
Charleston, he secured four muskets 
to show me an improved method of 
stacking arms which he had devised. 



From the Rev. James McDowell, 
Chaplain, C. S. A.: 

Sumter, S. C, September 16, 1903. 
Col. John P. Thomas, Columbia, S. C. 

Dear Sir: In response to your re- 
quest to "the officers and men of Jen- 



kins's brigade to send you such per- 
sonal and military characteristics of 
Jenkins as may be recalled by them," 
I write the following: 

I was invited by General Jenkins in 
1862, while he was colonel of the Pal- 
metto Sharpshooters, to become its 
chaplain. I accepted his invitation and 
reached the regiment just after the 
seven days' fighting around Richmond, 
and continued its chaplain until we 
were surrendered at Appomattox on 
the 9th of April, 1865. Colonel Jenkins 
was in command of the brigade when I 
reached it, and was soon after pro- 
moted brigadier-general for his gal- 
lantry on the battlefield, and Capt. 
Joseph "Walker succeeded him as col- 
onel of his regiment. The general took 
an interest in the spiritual as well as 
the temporal welfare of his men, and 
we have had him, with his staff, to 
worship with us at religious services. 

His men loved and admired him; had 
a great confidence in l#m, and bravely 
followed him on the bloody battlefield. 

The last Sabbath he spent upon earth 
• — when we were returning from East 
Tennessee to Virginia — I went to see 
him in his tent, where he was lying 
down sick. After a pleasant visit, and 
when about to leave he asked me to 
pray with him, which I gladly did; 
he reverently engaging in the service. 
A few days after, on the 6th of May, 
he was shot down by our men, by mis- 
take, in the battle of the Wilderness. 
I got up in the ambulance which bore 
him from the field of battle and spoke 
to him, but he was speechless and un- 
conscious, the ball having pierced his 
forehead. His brain was protruding 
from the wound. One side of him was 
completely paralyzed; his hand on his 
other side he repeatedly lifted to the 
wound and then laid it down again. 
He was taken back to his tent, where 
we laid him out and he lived several 
hours. 

General Jenkins was a noble man, 
very brave, and most enthusiastic. I 
loved and admired him, and can imag- 
ine that I still see the sweet smile on 
his intelligent and kind face. I believe 
that he was a true Christian, not only 
a good soldier of his country, but also 
a true soldier of Jesus Christ, the 
blessed Savior whom he professed and 
in whom he trusted. Soon after his 
death I wrote an account of it to his 
bereaved widow. Yours very respect- 
fully, James McDowell. 

This account appears elsewhere in 
this paper. 



old soldiers of Jenkins's brigade — that 
band of heroes, fast lessening with the 
passing years. Nothing could appeal 
to me more deeply, in meeting these 
battle-scarred heroes, mayhap, with an 
empty sleeve or a wooden leg, and 
looking into their brave old eyes, now 
growing dim, to hear them say: "Son, 
1 loved that father of yours; he always 
treated the humblest private with the 
same kindness and courtesy as he did 
the highest officer. He treated us all 
like gentlemen" — thus verifying that 
grand old adage, "the bravest are the 
tenderest." They have told me that 
his face was always lit with smiles; 
and his laugh most infectious, and that 
he had the wonderful faculty of never 
forgetting a face or a name. I have 
been told time and time again that he 
recognized the face, and could call by 
name, every member of his brigade. 
In fact, one wooden-legged hero, Sam 
Clinton of York county, said to me: 
"We boys had to behave ourselves, for 
the general knew every one of us by 
name, and would spot us instantly if 
we did anything amiss." They have 
told me that he never said to his men, 
"Go," but "My men, follow me!" I 
have but the faintest remembrance of 
a father's love, being but four years 
old when he was killed; but the noble 
deeds and humble piety of his short 
life have ever been to me an inspira- 
tion and an incentive to a clean and 
pure life. 
I am, sir, yours most truly, 

Robert F. Jenkins. 



A SON'S TRIBUTE. 

Columbia, S. C, Sept. 8, 1903. 

Col. John P. Thomas, Columbia, S. C. 

My Dear Colonel: It has been my 

happy privilege in traveling through 

South Carolina to meet many of the 



THE DEATH OF GEN. MICAH 
JENKINS. 

A private letter from a surgeon 
formerly in Jenkins's Brigade gives 
the following interesting particulars of 
the last hours of the life of that gal- 
lant officer. He says: 

"I had met him the day before the 
battle for the first time since his re- 
turn. He was looking very badly, had 
been sick, and was riding in an ambu- 
lance. The following morning I met 
the general at the head of his brigade, 
his face not beaming with smiles, as it 
usually did on such occasions, but it 
wore a sad and determined expression. 
He was evidently in pain. I saluted 
him and stopped. He asked me the 
news from the front. I told him I be- 
lieved all was going well; that the Tex- 
ans were driving them. He replied: 
"They are brave men who are doing 
it." I then said to him I feared he was 
suffering from being in the saddle. He 
said: "Oh, that is a small matter, and 
shall not prevent my doing my duty." 
Poor fellow, when I next saw him he 
was lying in his tent unconscious, with 
a ball buried in his brain. His face 
still wore the firm, determined look 
that characterized it in health. His 
death had been generally lamented. 



His old brigade thinks their loss irre- 
parable, and it is indeed so. In him 
the country has lost a firm and gal- 
lant officer, a noble soldier, "whose 
courage and dash in action won the 
admiration of all. Our State has lost a 
polished and elegant gentleman and a 
high-toned Christian. He lived some 
five hours after he was wounded, and 
died at sunset. He never spoke. 
Those who were by him say that as 
he died a glad smile lighted up his 
face, and that he died as quietly as an 
infant falls to sleep. May God in his 
mercy sustain his widow and father- 
less boys, to whom he was most de- 
votedly attached. I hope his sons may 
prove worthy of their sire." 



The burial of Brig.-Gen. M. Jenkins, 
at Summerville, Whit Sunday, May 15, 
1864: 

(By C. G. P. — Catherine Gendron 
Poyas.) 

Bring blossoms from the rosy beds of 

May, 
Bay from the woodland, myrtle from 

the bowers, 
And arborvitae, whose enduring leaf 
Symbols the life eternal, and let fair 

hands 
Weave them in garlands to adorn the 

mound 
Where sleeps the brave and true. 

Sweet his repose, 
Near the maternal bosom from whose 

fount 
He drew the virtues that made up his 

life. 
A few short weeks ago that silent 

breast 
Throbbed with a holy joy, when to her 

heart 
The mother pressed her young heroic 

son, 
And bade him, with her blessing, go 

again, 
And battle for his country. Far then 

seemed 
Their day of meeting — but God brought 

it near. 

Here is no martial note or organ's 

swell 
To honor, with its wild or solemn 

strain, 
Our hero's burial; only one lone bird 
Pours on the fragrant air a shower of 

song. 
Sing on, sweet warbler, for what holier 

note 
Can charm him to his rest than thine, 

Heaven taught. 
And flowing like the angels from a 

breast 
Wholly at peace with God! Heart 

soothing strain! 
How different from the noisy din of 

strife, 
The war-trump and the cannon's aw- 
ful roar. 



Glide softly to the mourners' sorrow- 
ing hearts 

And fit them from the promises of this 
day — 

The comforter sent forth to all who 
weep. 

And bearing dews of healing on his 
wing. 

Our blessed Sabbath, when the Lenten 
fast 

Was drawing to its close, and streaks 
of light. 

As heralding the glorious Easter morn, 

Began to pierce the gloom, we saw 
thee bow 

Within this temple, and on bended 
knees 

Receive in reverent hand the bread di- 
vine. 

And carry to thy lips the wine of life. 

Which to the heart of faith is heav- 
enly food. 

We little deemed it thy viaticum, 

And that by Whitsuntide thy mortal 

frame 
Would have been given to the silent 

dust. 
With tears of kindred and a nation's 

grief. 
We thought to see thee in the coming 

time, 
When meek-eyed peace has once more 

blessed our land, 
Wearing the laurel wreath thy valor 

won, 
And clothed in garments of prosperity. 
Living to good old age, while "troops 

of friends," 
And children's children gather round 

thy hearth — 
Thy warm, bright southern hearth — to 

hear thee tell 
Of deeds of prowess by our heroes 

wrought. 
In the great struggle — but, with modest 

grace, 
Setting aside thine own. We fondly 

dreamed. 
But God has willed it otherwise. Pare- 
well, 
True soldier of thy country and of 

Christ, 
With what assured hope we leave thee 

here 
To wait the archangel trump. Thy 

spirit fled 
Upon the shout of triumph — and the 

sound 
Took a seraphic sweetness as thy soul, 
Nearing the gate of paradise, was met 
By throngs of white-robed spirits, 

bearing palms 
And singing hymns of victory and 

peace. 

The remains of General Jenkins hav- 
ing previously been removed by his fam- 
ily from Summerville, S. C, to Magnolia 
cemetery, in Charleston, in 1881, the 
Association of Graduates of the South 
Carolina Military Academy, mindful of 



10 



its duty to the heroic dead, and in 
illustration of its rare devotion to its 
alma mater, instituted a movement in 
Souh Carolina to erect a monument to 
the memory of Jenkins in Magnolia 
cemetery. The writer was at that time 
conducting the Carolina Military In- 
stitute, at Charlotte, N. C. He prompt- 
ly seconded the action of his South 
Carolina comrades in a letter to the 
Charleston News and Courier, and sub- 
sequently it was his privilege to send 
a contribution to the monument fund, 
not unworthy of the object, on the part 
of the officers and cadets of the Char- 
lotte Military Institute and of the 
South Carolinians living in Charlotte, 

N. <:. 

I recall how on that occasion one 
gallant Virginian, residing in Char- 
lotte, came to me and claimed the 
privilege of showing his appreciation 
of the nobility of Gen. Jenkins by 
sharing in the proposed honor to his 
memory. The monument was prompt- 
ly erected in Magnolia cemetery, 
Charleston, S. C, and the graves of 
General Jenkins and of his wife are im- 
mediately in front of the monument. 
The monument is of granite, about 12 
feet high, and is situated near the 
center of the cemetery, in a space of 
ground just west of the great oak — fit 
emblem of the strength of Jenkins's 
character. The front of the monument 
has only the word "JENKINS," in 
raised letters, on the base, and two 
crossed guns at the top of the shaft. 
On the front of the shaft is a well- 
executed design in relief of a saber 
and belt. The monument bears the fol- 
lowing inscription: 

MICAH JENKINS, 

BRIG.-GEN. C. S. A. 

BORN DEC. 1, 1835, 

EDISTO ISLAND, S. C. 

A GRADUATE OF 

THE CITADEL 

ACADEMY 

WITH FIRST HONORS. 

KILLED AT THE HEAD 

OF HIS BRIGADE, IN 

THE BATTLE OF 

THE WILDERNESS, 

MAY 6, 1864. 
"INTEGER VITAE." 

ERECTED TO HIS 

MEMORY BY THE 

ASSOCIATION OF 

CITADEL GRADUATES 

AND OTHER COMRADES 

AND FRIENDS. 



thought would result in his defeat and 
great loss. The movement was Gen- 
eral Jenkins's. Mahone's brigade was 
ordered into position, and in order to 
reach its position, Jenkins's brigade 
had to pass between it and the enemy. 
General Longstreet and staff, General 
Jenkins and some of his staff, I and 
some others were riding in a bunch 
about fifty or sixty yards ahead of 
Jenkins's brigade. As we passed in 
front of Mahone his men poured a 
deadly volley into us. Longstreet was 
wounded, two of his aids were also 
wounded; General Jenkins was shot in 
the head, and one of the staff officers 
instantly killed. My first impulse was 
to get out of the line of fire, as I real- 
ized at once what the trouble was, so 
I spurred my horse and jumped into 
the bushes. Looking back, I saw Jen- 
kins's brigade preparing to return the 
fire. I immediately spurred my horse 
into the space between the two brig- 
ades, drew my sword, ordered Jenkins's 
brigade to lie down, and called out to 
Mahone's brigade that we were friends. 
My order to Jenkins's brigade was 
promptly obeyed, and like all its move- 
ments, even in the severest battles, 
was executed with as much smoothness 
and accuracy as if on dress parade. 

"General Jenkins was passionately 
fond of his men, and during his cam- 
paigns insisted on the strictest disci- 
pline as the surest means of protection, 
and of saving them in times of great- 
est danger. He was the most magnetic 
man I ever met, and I believe the fin- 
est soldier." 



Major-General, afterwards Judge, J. 
B. Kershaw's account of the death of 
Gen. Micah Jenkins, as given by him 
to Hawkins Ic. Jenkins, Esq.: 

"We were preparing to make an at- 
tack upon the enemy, which we 



Charleston, S. C, Sept. 24, 1903. 
Col. Jno. P. Thomas, Columbia, S. C. 

Dear Colonel: In asking me to add 
to your proposed tribute to Micah Jen- 
kins you have imposed upon me the 
heart-trying task of lifting the pall 
from a long lost and buried love. 
Drawn together at the age of 15 by 
affinities which neither of us tried, or 
cared to analyze, our thoughts, our as- 
pirations, our lives flowed on for 13 
years like the sap to twin buds upon a 
single stem. And yet we were not alike: 
we seemed, rather, to be complements 
of each other. Now, as I view him in a 
perspective of nearly 40 passed years, 
he towers above all my intimate con- 
temporary acquaintances as the em- 
bodiment of all moral excellences, of 
all the potentialities of manly great- 
ness. As a youth he was vivacious, 
impulsive and impetuous; but his vi- 
vacity was elicited only by what was 
clean and pure; his impulsiveness and 
impetuosity were ever under the watch- 
ful guard of honor. I have never 
known a man more prompt to make 
frank and spontaneous amends for any 
hasty work or act that would unjustly 
wound another. To be generous, just, 



11 



and brave, seemed to be the law of his 
nature. He scorned a meanness as he 
did a lie. 

He took great delight in the society 
of ladies, and his attitude towards 
them was of the chivalrous character 
that poets give to the palmiest days 
of knighthood. He was no recipient or 
retailer of scandalous gossips, and he 
scrupulously shunned all ribald, loose 
talk that some men indulge in when 
far from the restraints of home lire. 
During the first two years of his cadet 
life he had fallen into the senseless 
habit of freely using profane expres- 
sions in his convertation. A compan- 
ion, not free himself from the same 
habit, undertook to lecture him on the 
subject, and ihe result was a banter 
from Jenkins that both should drop 
the ha>-.it Irom that moment, with the 
understanding that the first to lapse 
should turn his back and let the other 
strike him with utmost force between 
the shoulders. In less than five min- 
utes Jenkins incurred the penalty. The 
blow was given with vigor and re- 
ceived in good faith, and for both of 
them the habit was broken for life. 
From that day no one heard a profane 
expression fall from his lips; from that 
day, with him, began in earnest the 
discipline of self-control. For over five 
years after his graduation the respon- 
sibilities of an instructor of youths car- 
ried on this discipline and prepared 
him for the tragedy of patriotism in 
which he was about to take a part. 

In his 20th year he was confirmed in 
the Episcopal church of Yorkville, and 
continued a regular communicant and 
"Christ's faithful servant" until his 
life's end. His was a simple, unques- 
tioning faith in God's promises; his 
piety was absolutely free from any- 
thing like ostentation, and at home, or 
in camp, or on the field of battle, his 
Bible or his prayer book was always 
in reach of his hand. On many oc- 
casions in the field we read the Word 
together. One of these most deeply 
punctuated in my memory happened 
about midday on the field of Second 
Manassas or Groveton. It was known 
that the decisive struggle would take 
place that afternoon, and I was sent 
as a staff officer to place certain bri- 
gades in position. Passing a short dis- 
tance in rear of Jenkins's brigade, I 
came upon Jenkins reclining on the 
slope of a hill. The young and hand- 
some Col. Thomas Glover was lying 
on his back, pillowing his head on his 
two hands, the staunch and lovable 
Cato Seabrook, adjutant-general of 
Jenkins's brigade, was partly reclining 
near by. After dismounting and greet- 
ing them and giving such information 
as I had of the status of things, I noted 
that Jenkins held a small book in his 
hand, with one finger inserted between 
the leaves to mark the place where the 
reading had been interrupted by my 



advent. Anticipating my inquiry, he 
said: "We have been reading some of 
the gospels and epistles in the prayer 
book, and commenting on Paul's sol- 
dier spirit. Listen." He read that part 
of the Epistle to the Ephesians be- 
ginning, "Put on the whole armor of 
God," etc. At the conclusion he said, 
"God grant that at the end, to both 
God and the country, each one of us 
may be able to say with Paul, 'I have 
fought a good fight; I have kept the 
faith.' " Alas! Alas! When night fell 
upon that fateful field. Glover and five 
other South Carolina colonels were 
dead; poor, pious Seabrook was slowly 
dying at the field hospital from a buliet 
through his body; and Jenkins was 
having his severe wound dressed by 
the surgeons. 

Of the thousands of gallant young 
men whom our State sent to the front 
to vindicate her course and to uphold 
her honor, none was better equipped 
than Jenkins for the struggle. His 
training in the military school of the 
State, his experience in the military 
training of youths and the self-disci- 
pline necessarily involved, backed by 
his strong, clear intellect and forceful 
will, all conspired to make him an ideal 
officer. His handling of his troops in 
the battle of Seven Pines brilliantly 
illustrates his superb skill and au- 
dacity. Receiving the simple order to 
drive the enemy from his front, he 
moved his well-drilled troops forward 
with the steadiness of a parade move- 
ment, over abatis and breastworks, 
through camp after camp, and broke 
line after line of opposing forces in his 
relentless advance of at least a mile 
and a half. Finally, at dark, with no 
enemy in sight, and far in advance of 
the general alignment of the Confed- 
erate forces, he formed his line across 
the Williamsburg road and literally 

"Sheathed his sword. 
For lack of argument." 

This single splendid deed was enough 
to win undying fame. 

Was he ambitious? Yes; he was 
full of an ambition free from all sor- 
did or selfish taint— an ambition for 
high achievement in the cause of hu- 
manity and country, the noble ambition 
of exalted souls. He was a magnetic 
man among men. The rare blending in 
him of tenderness of heart with great 
force of character could not fail to at- 
tract and dominate all who came with- 
in his sphere of infiuence. 

The last scene in his too short but 
glorious career still haunts my wak- 
ing dreams. We had reached the Wil- 
derness just in time to check the ene- 
my's pursuit of A. P. Hill's broken 
brigades. Shortly afterwards the ene- 
my's left flank was turned by Ker- 
shaw and Mahone and his troops were 



12 



driven in rapid flight back to the 
Brock road. As the order was given 
for his brigade to advance, Jenkins 
made my regiment the "battalion of 
direction" and indicated the point of 
attack, then grasping my hand with 
more than usual fervor said, "God bless 
you, old man. Tell your men that 
South Carolina looks to each individual 
son to win this fight today." He left 
me to join Longstreet and Kea-shaw 
with their staff officers and couriers. 
Suddenly a volley of firing was begun 
by some of our troops in front and 
as suddenly it stopped. In a few min- 
utes Col. Robert Sims rode up to tell 
me that Jenkins and a courier or staff 
officer were killed and General Long- 
street was probably mortally wounded 
by that firing. In a moment I was at 
my friend's side, but to my passionate 
appeal for recognition no answer came 



— the bullet was too deeply imbedded 
in the base of the brain. 

After the lines were arranged for the 
night I jrode back to the field hospital 
to have my own wound attended to and 
to take a last look upon the face of 
my hero friend. I could scarcely be- 
lieve that he was dead, for as the fit- 
ful flashes of the torchlight fell upon 
his face I saw the same sweet, proud 
smile of victory that lighted up his 
face at our late parting. For him, a 
glorious death! For those that were 
left, only woe. 

Here, dear colonel, I must stop. 
Please place this little crumpled leaf 
somewhere in the beautiful chaplet 
you are weaving around the memory 
of my dear heroic friend. 

Very truly yours, 

Asbury Coward. 




13 



f 



II. A SOLDIER'S STORY OF HIS BATTLES. 



Jenkins's account of battles in which 
he was engaged as colonel or as brig- 
adier-general, or as acting major- 
general, as given in letters to wife or 
brother, with supplementary accounts 
by Longstreet and others: 

BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 

Camp Pettus, July 25. 1861. 
Headquarters 5th Reg., S. C. V. 
My Dear Brother: You will have 
heard ere this of the glorious victory 
won by us on Sunday last. I write 
to relieve any anxiety on our account. 
All you know are unhurt. My regi- 
ment behaved with great gallantry, 
and made a charge that well might 
be remembered. "We turned the right 
of the enemy and through the mercy 
of God and the folly of the enemy 
caused upwards of 5,000 to leave 
the field. Our brigade was ordered, in 
connection with two others, to assume 
the offensive and attack a very for- 
midable battery of Sherman's guns. 
Before we made the attack the orders 
were countermanded and the two other 
brigades did not move. We did not 
receive the countermand, and made 
the attack, my regiment leading. The 
fire was so intense — 74 guns being fired 
upon us in the space of 10 minutes — 
that the two Mississippi regiments 
broke and fled in perfect panic, first 
pouring into us, their friends, a terri- 
fic musketry fire which cut us up 
badly, the first fire sweeping down nine 
of Seabrook's company. Never fal- 
tering, I charged up to the hill upon 
which the enemy was found, when I 
halted and reformed my lines amid a 
hail storm of grape and shell. Look- 
ing around for my support in storming 
the hill, I found myself with 600 men, 
isolated in the presence of four in- 
fantry regiments — a squadron of cav- 
alry and eight pieces of artillery. 
Closing my ranks, I stood with my 
gallant fellows for three-quartei'S of 
an hour amid the bursting of shells, 
and then, not hearing anything of the 
brigade, I unwillingly decided to with- 
draw. First, however, I drove the 
enemy from their guns and into the 
woods by my rifle fire, and then slowly 
and deliberately withdrew from the 
field and found my brigade rallied 
about three-fourths of a mile from me. 
The enemy, after retreating into the 
woods upon my fire, retreated and 
joined in the rout which took place 
about the same time. I saved my 
brigade from ruin by the determina- 
tion with which I held my place, and 
the enemy, magnifying by their fears 
our force, thought we were 15,000 
men and Jeff Davis turning their 
flank, which accounts for their re- 
tiring before so small a force. The 



shots fell around me like hail. I was 
in the center of this fire, being the only 
ofl^cer on horseback. One man was 
shot by my side and a bullet knocked 
the stirrup from my foot, but God's 
hand shielded me from harm. Our 
brigade lost in killed and wounded 70 
odd men in the space of 10 minutes. 
I lost more by our friends than enemies. 
I had 26 killed and wounded. None 
of Seabrook's men were killed, but 
nine wounded. Ben (body servant), 
when he heard that we were cut to 
pieces and I killed, which was the 
news carried by some of. the Missis- 
sippians who ran five miles to the 
junction, was requested by Mr. 
Wheeler to save himself and go on the 
cars to Warrenton, refused to leave 
me. I will tell you more when I see 
you. We are now resting from our 
fighting. May God bless you all. His 
hand was with us in our fight. Love 
to all. 

Tour affectionate brother, 
Micah Jenkins. 
To Maj. John Jenkins. 



BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES. 
Headquarters Palmetto Sharpshooters, 
June 2, 1862. 
My Ever Precious Wife: Thanks be 
to our Almighty Father, I am still 
alive to write you again, I passed day 
before yesterday through a very severe 
fight and have won for myself and men 
a name in history. I accomplished a 
more brilliant feat than the charge 
at Balaklava. With two regiments 
(Palmetto Shapshooters and the Sixth 
regiment, Cof. John Bratton, about 
1,800 men.— R. F. J.) I whipped and 
routed General Couch's division, driv- 
ing them two miles, fighting fine lines 
of fresh troops and routing every line, 
and getting so far ahead of our line 
that our own guns opened on us. I was 
struck upon the knee, drawing blood 
and unfortunately ruining my pants. 
The brigade under my command cov- 
ered itself with glory; saving the fate 
of the day, which was against us 
when we went in, and setting South 
Carolina on as high a position as ever. 
I have been highly complimented. Gen. 
D. H. Hill, our commander, called my 
command his "salvation," refused to 
let me retire yesterday to recruit and 
get ammunition, saying that he would 
feel as if he had weakened himself by 
six brigades. He held me to act as 
rear guard, selecting me, cut up as 
we were, out of three divisions as being 
most reliable, and said to others he 
would rather have me with one regi- 
ment than any brigadier with five. I 
never fought in the same grounds 
twice, nor the same place five minutes. 



14 



breaking five lines of fresh troops by 
charging with bayonets, never getting 
within 75 yards of them, took three of 
their camps, three pieces of artillery 
and three stands of colors. My regi- 
ment have acted as heroes to sing in 
history, never faltering, but ever at 
my word pressing on until night, after 
six hours steady fighting, ended our 
labors for the day. I have never heard 
of such fighting. Out of the 11 color 
guards, I only brought back one, and 
in the two color companies I carried 
in 80 men and lost 40 killed and wound- 
ed. I was in my lines or in advance the 
whole time, cheering and leading my 
men. The brigade has lost severely. In 
my regiment I had 20 killed and 202 
wounded. Cato Seabrook is safe. 
I was only hit once, but suffer nothing 
but soreness and the loss of a pair 
of pants. Carolinians need feel asham- 
ed no longer. I will send you with 
this letter an album. You will see 
General Couch's remarks that his divi- 
sion that I routed was some 7,00Q men. 
May God keep me for you, dearest. Till 
death yours, Micah Jenkins. 

To Mrs. M. Jenkins. 



From Longstreet's Work, "Manassas 
to Appomattox," on battle of Seven 
Pines: 

Finding that he could not cut his 
way back to his command. Couch stood 
back from the railroad and presently 
opened his battery fire across our ad- 
vancing lines. As he was standing di- 
rectly in front of Smith's division we 
thought that he would soon be attack- 
ed and driven off. Nevertheless it was 
not prudent to leave that point on our 
flank unguarded until we found Smith's 
division in action. The force was shut 
off from our view by the thick pine 
wood, so that we could know nothing 
of its strength, and only knew of its 
position from its artillery fire. We 
could not attack it lest we should fall 
under the fire of the division in position 
for that attack. Anderson's other regi- 
ments, under the gallant Col. M. Jen- 
kins, were ordered into Hill's forward 
battle, as his troops were worn. Jen- 
kins soon found himself in the van, and 
so swiftly led on that the discomfited 
troops found no opportunity to rally. 
Reinforcements from the Third corps 
came, but in the swampy woods Jenkins 
was prompt enough to strike their heads 
as their retreating comrades passed. 
Right and left and front he applied hi's 
beautiful tactics and pushed his battle. 

General Kearny, finding that he could 
not arrest the march, put Berry's bri- 
gade off to the swamp to flank and 
strike it, and took part of Jamison's 
brigade to follow. They got into the 
swamp and followed it up to the open- 
ing near the Couch intrenchment. Gen- 
eral Berry thought that he got up as 
far as the Casey camp, but mistook 



Couch's opening for that of Casey, but 
Jenkins knew that there was some one 
there to meet him and pushed his on- 
ward battle. General Hill ordered 
Rain's brigade to turn this new force, 
while Rodes attacked, but the latter's 
men were worn, and some of them were 
with the advance. Kemper's brigade 
was sent to support the forward battle, 
but General Hill directed it to his right 
against Berry in front of Rain, and it 
seemed that the heavy, swampy ground 
so obstructed operations on both sides 
as to limit their work to infantry fusil- 
ades until 6 o'clock. 



The following is from the pen of 
Capt. W. B. Smith, Co. G, Jenkins's 
Palmetto Sharpshooters: 

"I will give you a description of that 
grand evolution that the Palmetto 
Sharpshooters made at Seven Pines, 
which you will see described by Long- 
street. After we had driven back four 
fresh lines of battle General Jenkins 
drew his lines back a short way and 
formed a new line. Some one said to 
him: 'Colonel, just look at them com- 
ing at the double-quick.' Jenkins re- 
plied: 'We will meet them at the dou- 
ble-quick.' He straightened himself 
up in his stirrups and gave the com- 
mand to charge front on twelfth com- 
pany at the double-quick, and I never 
saw on ordinary parade a prettier 
maneuver. General Jenkins was ma- 
gic. He could come nearer making his 
men work like machinery than any 
other man I ever saw. That was the 
last charge at Seven Pines, at which 
ended the battle. We fought Ave fresh 
lines that evening and whipped every 
one. Jenkins was on his horse all 
through the battle. I am glad that 
some one is writing up General Jen- 
kins's battles, for a braver Christian 
soldier never drew a sword than he." 



SEVEN PINES. 

Gen. G. W. Smith, who succeeded to 
the command of the Army of Northern 
Virginia on the wounding of Gen. J. 
E. Johnston, has this to say in his 
report of the battle of Seven Pines: 

"The battlefield fighting done by the 
two regiments under the command of 
Col. Micah Jenkins has never been sur- 
passed in the annals of history, and I 
doubt if it has ever been equaled." 



LETTER FROM ROBT. T. JENKINS— 
A SON. 
Columbia, S. C, Sept. 13, 1903. 
Col. J. P. Thomas, Columbia, S. C. 

My Dear Sir: The battles of Seven 
Pines, Gaines' Mill, Frayser's Farm, 
presents Col. Micah Jenkins and that 
glorious regiment, "Jenkins's Palmetto 



15 



Sharpshooters," which had no superi- 
or, if an equal in either army, in each 
a different light. At Seven Pines we 
see them proudly sweeping before them 
In the full flush of victory, five lines of 
fresh troops, and captui-ing three en- 
trenched camps, etc. At Gaines' Mill 
occurred what has been styled "a duel 
between two regiments." Just after 
sunset the Sixteenth Michigan and the 
Palmetto Sharpshooters came out of 
the woods almost side by side. Facing 
towards them and placing his regiment 
at the "ready," Colonel Jenkins advanc- 
ed towards the approaching troops, now 
less than 100 yards off and said: "What 
regiment is that?" Receiving no reply, 
and as they still advanced with their 
colors furled, he again said: "If you 
don't show your colors I will fire on 
you." "Halt" was the reply. Some- 
thing in the tone of voice convinced 
him instantly that thev were the en- 
emy. Dropping where he stood he gave 
the command, "fire," the enemy cov- 
ering the word with "ready." 

Now only 50 or 60 yards apart, the 
fire of the Sharpshooters seemed lit- 
erally to sweep them from the face of 
the earth — the entire regiment except a 
mere handful were killed or wounded. 
But gallant indeed was that little rem- 
nant rallying round theij- commander 
and their colors; they still presented 
a bold front, but seeing the folly of 
further fight, on being summoned to 
surrender. Colonel Stockton said: "Col- 
onel, you have slain all my gallant men 
but this little band; you might as well 
take them." Such was the severity of 
the return fire that over 100 of the 
Palmetto Shaj-pshooters were killed or 
wounded. It was only that "quickness" 
of their commander, so noted, and their 
own readiness that saved them from 
the fate of their gallant foe. The col- 
ors of the Sixteenth Michigan were 
presented to Governor Pickens by Col. 
Micah Jenkins, and are now probably 
In the capitol at Columbia. 

And now we come to that charge 
which has cast a luster on the very 
name of Carolina — the battle of Fray- 
ser's Farm. 

General Longstreet, in his "From Ma- 
nassas to Appomatox," says: 

"While awaiting the approach of 
Jackson, President Davis, Gens. R. E. 
Lee and A. P. Hill and his staff joined 
me in a little clearing of about three 
acres curtained by dense pine forest. 
"Very soon we were disturbed by a few 
shells tearing and screaming through 
the woods over our heads, one or two 
bursting in our midst and wounding a 
courier. The opening was speedily 
cleared of the distinguished group. 
Near the battery from which the shots 
came was Col. Micah Jenkins, who had 
a battalion of practiced sharpshoot- 
ers. I sent orders for Jenkins to si- 
lence the battery, under the impres- 



sion that our wait was understood, 
and that the sharpshooters would be 
pushed forward, till they could pick off 
the gunners, thus ridding us of the an- 
noyance. But the gallant Jenkins, only 
too anxious for a dash at a battery, 
chaj:'ged and captured it, and thus pre- 
cipitated the battle" — thus sending one 
regiment unsupported against General 
McCall's division. Advancing to the 
edge of the woods with his little band 
of 375 men, a remnant of the 1,400 heroes 
who began the "seven days' cam- 
paign," there opened out before them 
across the field of Frayser's Farm not 
a battery only but a long line of en- 
trenched troops. Making his men lie 
down, Colonel Jenkins sent his aid, 
Lieut. John W. Jamison, to General 
Longstreet to report 'that instead of a 
battery it was at least a brigade en- 
trenched, and he thought it a division, 
and that he awaited orders.' Unable to 
find General Longstreet, Lieutenant 
Jamison reported to Colonel Fairfax, 
his chief of staff. Colonel Fairfax re- 
plied: 'Longstreet ordered that battery 
silenced.' I have what follows mainly 
from the lips of the gallant Jamison, 
who in that very fight was to get the 
terrible wound that made him a heroic 
martyr to his death: 'Reporting to 
Colonel Jenkins the order of Colonel 
Fairfax, I heard him say, as if in 
prayer, "My God, my poor men." 
Riding out in front of the regiment, 
my father told my sainted mother, "I 
was never so nearly unmanned. Every 
eye was upon me and I knew that at 
my word so many, ah, so many, of my 
brave boys ere the setting of the sun 
would be sleeping their last long sleep." 
Riding up and down in front of his men 
he led them across that field. Within 
50 yards his first horse was killed. 
Staggering like a ship at sea beating 
against the wind, they worked their ar- 
duous way. Incessant was the roar, 
unceasing was the storm of shot and 
shell, terrible was the cry of the file- 
closers, "Close up, close up," as by ones 
and twos and fives and tens the gaps 
were made. Enfiladed at 300 yards by 
12 pieces of artillery, firing grape and 
shell, still undaunted they pressed on. 
Death and red carnage held full sway. 
Thirteen times were the color bearers 
shot down, and still there was a hero 
ever ready to grasp those colors and to 
bear it on to death or victory. Ever 
ownward they forced their way through 
blood and death; they reached the 
breastworks, and over it their colonel 
leaps, his wounded horse there to fall, 
followed by his devoted band. The bat- 
tery is theirs. Seizing on'^ of the pieces, 
Capt. R. M. Sims, Lieutenant Moore, R. 
P. Smith and Ed. Cardwell load and fire 
on the retreating foe. They silenced 
the battery, but, oh! at w^-^t a cost! 
Lieutenant Jamison shot through the 
lungs — a martyr for life — and of the 375, 



1( 



125 reported for duty next day, and 
think of it, not a single prisoner.' 

I give here Colonel Jenkins's letter to 
his wife: 

July 3, 1862. 

My Own Dearest: I write with the 
most saddened feelings. God has been 
most merciful, but, oh my God, what 
terrible trials have we been through. 
Nearly all my best friends, men and 
officers, killed and wounded. In my 
regiment in the fight on Monday I 
carried 375 men and had 250 killed and 
wounded. Never was such gallantry 
shown. I had the brigade and was or- 
dered forward by Generals Anderson 
and Longstreet. The enemy behind 
breastworks poured their fire into us 
until within 30 feet before they gave 
back, and 12 pieces of artillery, for a 
quarter of a mile, enfiladed my line at 
300 yards with grape and shell. We 
drove everything before us, but when 
we got there scarce anybody left. Even 
the Yankee officers, the colonel com- 
manding the brigade, said never was 
such a charge made before. I have not 
time to write you more now. Poor John, 
shot through the lungs. I pray God he 
may recover. I am the most singular 
instance of the providence of God. My 
sword shot off with a grape, broken 
again by a ball, the sword knot cut by 
a ball, my bridle rein cut with a ball, 
my saddle cloth cut with a ball, my 
horse shot under me twice, my over- 
coat, tied behind my saddle, cut in a 
dozen places with shell, I hit upon the 
shoulder with a grape and upon the 
breast with a shell, am here to praise 
and bless Him. And if I live, my wife, 
my life is His hereafter. I dedicate it 
to His service. May God bless and 
keep you. I have not time to write 
more. Yours till death, 

Micah Jenkins. 

The battle of Balaklava echoed round 
the world. It was a cavalry charge. 
In they rushed, and glad indeed they 
were to rush out again. They accom- 
plished nothing. Their loss was ter- 
rible — 35 per cent. This unequaled band 
of Carolinians on foot worked their 
way across that gory field of over a 
quarter of a mile, captured the battery 
and held it. Their loss was over 66 
per cent. It was the grandest charge 
ever made by any body of men. Gen- 
eral McCall, the Federal commander, 
says: "It was my fortune to witness 
one of the fiercest bayonet charges that 
ever occurred on this continent. I saw 
skulls smashed with musket butts and 
bayonets, wounds given and taken, thus 
proving that Greek met Greek." Their 
comrades right and left, enthused to 
the highest pitch, rushed in with the 
same spirit, and thus was the battle 
joined. Never was a more heroic and 
devoted band than those color bear- 
ers. P. .W. Poe of Greenville, after five 
or six were slain, bore the colors so 



proudly as to command the admira- 
tion of his colonel, "Look at my brave 
boy." Alas, he bore it on to death. 
C. L. Reid of Walhalla, shot full of bul- 
lets, proudly bore it on to victory. 
Such was the emulation caused by the 
very name of Jenkins's brigade that 
they ever afterward began Longstreet's 
battles — an inspiration to their friends, 
a terror to their foe. To tell their 
deeds, my humble pen falters— it needs 
a Tennyson to sing their praise, and 
if their proud mother, Carolina, but did 
them simple justice she would inscribe 
the name of each and every one of them 
on her topmost 'roll of fame, in let- 
ters that would never fade; and ever 
point, in pride, her sons to their 
achievements. Yours most truly, 

Robert F. Jenkins. 



BATTLE OP LOOKOUT CREEK. 
Headquarters Hood's Division, 
Oct. 29, 1863. 
My Beloved Wife: Last night I had 
a terrible fight with immense odds of 
the Yankees. Yesterday evening a col- 
umn of the enemy, consisting of the 
11th army corps, passed our left and 
joined a body of some 6,000, then about 
three miles below us. A number of 
wagons and apparently about 1,000 
men stopped and camped three miles 
in the rear of the party above men- 
tioned. I was ordered by General Long- 
street to take four brigades of the di- 
vision I commanded to make an at- 
tempt to destroy and capture the 
smaller party. To do this I had to 
cross a creek passable by two broken 
bridges (planks had been torn up, only 
the sleepers left.— R. P. J.) and get be- 
tween the main body of some 12,000 
and the party I was ordered to attack. 
I proceeded to do this as ordered, the 
forces under my command being near 
4,000. Placing two brigades under Gen- 
eral Law to prevent the larger force 
from cutting off my attacking party, I 
sent my brigade under Col. John 
Bratton, to make the attack. This 
they did splendidly, meeting not 
as was expected a party of 1,000, but the 
12th corps of some 5,000, which had 
come up after night. Tothing daunted 
by the odds, my brnve boys drove on 
and captured the wagon train, camps, 
etc., and in a few minutes would have 
had the whole Yankee force routed and 
their guns captured, but at this time 
the 12,000 men on the other side pressed 
against the brigades under General 
Law, who failing to prevent their pass- 
ing his left, they reached the third sup- 
porting brigade,^ very small one, and 
threatened to get between my brigade 
and us, thus compelling me to recall 
my brigade in the midst of success. 
Under the trying circumstances it 
withdrew in perfect order, and al- 
though pressed now by 15,000 Federals, 
I succeeded in retiring my whole force 



17 



across two broken bridges without the 
loss of an additional man. The fight 
was made at 10 o'clock at night, and 
lasted until 3 a. m. My brigade lost 
361, amongst whom was my noble Col- 
onel Kilpatrick killed, and a number of 
my gallant officers wounded. Lieuten- 
ants MuUinax and Crossby of Captain 
Meacham's company both wounded 
— the captain not in the fight. The ene- 
my lost some 1,200 to 1,500 killed and 
wounded. Colonel Coward distinguish- 
ed himself, as did his regiment particu- 
larly — it lost heavily. 

I feel more grateful to God and more 
proud of this occasion than of any of 
my battles. Tour loving husband, 
Micah Jenkins. 

To Mrs. M. Jenkins. 



LONGSTREET'S "MANASSAS TO 
APPOMATTOX," LOOKOUT 
CREEK. 
My estimate of the Federal forces 
was 5,000. Gen. Bragg thought it not 
so strong, and appearance from the 
elevation seemed to justify this esti- 
mate. Presently the rear-guard came 
in sight and made its bivouac immedi- 
ately in front of the position on which 
we stood. The latter force was esti- 
mated at 1,500, and halted about three 
miles in rear of the main body. A 
plan was laid to capture the rear- 
guard by night attack. He proposed to 
send me, McLaw's and Jenkins's divi- 
sions for the work, and ordered that it 
should be done in time for the divi- 
sions to withdraw to the point of the 
mountain before daylight, left me to 
arrange details for the attack, and rode 
to give orders for the divisions, but 
changed his mind without giving me 
notice, and only ordered Jenkins's di- 
vision. After marching his command 
General Jenkins rode to the top of the 
mountain and reported. As General 
Law's detached service had given hiin 
opportunity to learn something of the 
country, his brigade was chosen as the 
brigade of position, between the parts 
of the enemy's forces. General Law 
was to move first, get into position by 
crossing the bridge over Lookout creek, 
to be followed by Jenkins's other brig- 
ades, when McLaw's division was to 
advance into position in support of 
Law's brigade. I waited on the moun- 
tain until midnight and then rode to 
the point of assembly, found the offi- 
cers in wait discussing the movement, 
and upon inquiry found that McLaw's 
division had not been ordered. Under 
the impression that the other division 
commander understood that the move- 
ment had failed, I rode back to head- 
quarters without giving countermand- 
ing orders. The gallant Jenkins, how- 
ever, decided that the plan should not 
be abandoned, and went to work in its 
execution with his single (^''^'^^on. To 
quiet the apprehensions of General 



Law, he gave him Robertson's brigade 
to be posted with his own and Ben- 
ning's brigade as their support, and or- 
dered his own brigade, under Colonel 
Bratton, to move cautiously against the 
rearguard and make the attack if op- 
portunity was encouraging. As soon as 
Colonel Bratton engaged, the alarm 
spread, the enemy hastened to the re- 
lief of his rear, encountered the troops 
posted to receive them and made swift, 
severe battle. General Law claimed 
that he drove off their fight, and under 
the impression that Colonel Bratton 
had finished his work, recrossed the 
bridge, withdrew his command, leaving 
Colonel Bratton at the tide of his en- 
gagement. General Jenkins and Col- 
onel Bratton were left to their own 
cool and gallant skill to extricate the 
brigade from the swoop of numbers 
accumulating against them, and with 
the- assistance of the brave Bennings 
Rock brigade brought the command 
safely over, Benning's brigade crossing 
^s Bratton reached the bridge. The 
conduct of Bratton's forces was one 
of the cleverest pieces of work of the 
war, and the skill of its handling soft- 
ened the blow that took so many of 
our gallant officers and soldiers. Col- 
onel Bratton made clever disposi- 
tion of his men and handled them 
well. He met gallant resistance, and at 
one time had part of his command 
forced back, but renewed the attack, 
making his line stronger, forced the 
enemy into crowded ranks, and had 
him under converging circular fire, 
with fair prospects, when recalled un- 
der orders to hasten to the bridge. 

General Law lost (aggregate) 43. 

General Robertson lost (aggregate) 9. 

Colonel Bratton lost (aggregate) 356. 

It was an oversight of mine not to 
give definite orders for the troops to 
return to their camps before leaving 
them. James Longstreet, 

Lieut.-Gen. 



LONGSTREET ON JENKINS'S BRI- 
GADE. 

"And this is the epitome of the Con- 
federate battle (Gettysburg). The army 
when it set out on the campaign was 
all that could be desired (except that 
the arms were not all of the most ap- 
proved pattern), but it was despoiled 
of two of its finest brigades, Jenkins's 
and Corse's, of Pickett's division, and 
was fought out by detail." 



LONGSTREET AT THE SURREN- 
DER. 

"Seasoned by four years of battle, 
triumphant the veterans in that body 
stood at Appomattox when the sun 
rose on the 9th day of April, 1865, as 
invincible of valor as on the morning 
of 31st of August, 1862, after breaking 
up the Union lines of the second field 
of Manassas." '2 



III. THE INNER LIFE OF MICAH JENKINS. 



With the exception of Asbury Cow- 
ard, the Citadel classmate of Jenkins, 
his associate in the Kings Mountain 
Military School and his close comrade 
in arms, as well as a participant in a 
common glory of military achieve- 
ments, there was, perhaps, no man out- 
side of Jenkins's family nearer to him 
in friendship's golden bands than the 
writer of this paper. Especially were 
we brought close together in the com- 
munion of a common sorrow when my 
younger brother, Robert Kirk Thomas, 
the Lycidas of my family, died, April 
10, 1860, in the service of the Kings 
Mountain Military School, called 
thither upon his graduation at the Cit- 
adel, by Messrs. Coward and Jenkins, 
the principals of that famous school. 

It was Major Jenkins's letter to me, 
April 19, 1860, that first revealed to 
me the full nobility of Jenkins, the 
wealth of his feelings and the depth 
of his Christian convictions. This 
treasured letter is the finest of the 
kind that I have ever read. The pa- 
thos of it moves me to this day, 
though written 43 years ago, when 
the laurel and the cypress were the 
fresh, symbols of a brother's short ca- 
reer. 

I hope to be excused for quoting here 
one passage of Jenkins's letter, to illus- 
trate not my brother, but his noble 
friend: "Tour brother seemied anxious 
that I should nurse him, and although 
at that time I thought he would be 
better, yet he seemed so low spirited 
that I told him that I would be his 
nurse until he grew better. I tried to 
cheer him as much as possible. Seeing 
how restless he was, and thinking it 
might be good for him to have his 
mind engaged with something besides 
his bad feelings, I took the Bible and 
read two of the beautiful and appro- 
priate Psalms of David, which seemed 
to give hiin great pleasure and quieted 
him for some time. After awhile he 
turned to me and said, 'Major, cheer 
me up.' I replied that I would do all 
I could and that I had prayed and 
would pray to God for him, but that 
he should pray too. He assented by 
nodding his head, talking seemed to 
weary him, and then I said to him: 
'You know whom to pray to, Thomas.' 
He again bent his head with an ex- 
pressive and kind look. This I said to 
lead his thoughts where I felt his 
hopes were to be placed, for I now 
was much alarmed about him, as 
all the stimulants seemed to have no 
effect. From this short conversation 
and what followed, I have no doubt 
that he was fully aware of his situa- 
tion, much better indeed than we were. 
About 1 o'clock the doctor returned 
and remained until the death, doing 
everything that man could do, but God 



had higher and nobler aiins for our 
friend, and our labors were in vain. 
About 4 o'clock, seeing no change, I 
proposed to the doctor that he should 
speak to him of his situation and give 
him, while there was yet time, the 
opportunity to say what was to be of 
such comfort to us all. At this time, 
hope had forsaken us, and the hand 
of God was on your brother's brow. 
The doctor asked him if he were aware 
of his situation. He bent his head. 
The doctor told him we had done all 
we could for him, and that he must 
now look to God. He said, 'I put my 
trust in Christ.' The doctor said there 
could be no higher or surer place for 
faith. He replied: 'I have great faith 
in Christ.' 

"I then said to him, 'And you know, 
Thomas, Christ has said those who 
acknowledge Him here He will ac- 
knowledge in Heaven.' The thought of 
not having made any declaration of 
his faith seemed to have been on his 
mind, for, as I said this, his face 
brightened and he said with great 
eagerness, 'I have acknowledged Him,' 
and called us to witness. I now 
brought in his brother (a cadet in the 
school), and speaking to him, he said: 
'Howdy, Charlie, always do your duty. 
Tell my mother I am going home to 
Heaven.' He then thanked us all for 
our kindness and said, in a broken 
voice with great exertion: 'Give my 
love to my mother, to my sisters, to 
by brothers, to my friends.' * * « 
About 30 minutes before he died he 
repeated the Lord's prayer, and, oh! 
what beauty and feeling was displayed 
in his broken and touching voice, but 
seeming to gather strength from the 
theme his voice grew stronger and to 
the last was full and loud. He re- 
peated three times and with increasing 
solemnity: 'And Thine is the glory 
forever,' and then made an attempt to 
sing, seeming to see high above him 
the glories of the future — and with a 
smile upon his face extended upwards 
his arms until his strength failed and 
he fell back. He rested now for 10 
minutes seemingly in prayer, and then 
in a tone that still rings in my heart, 
said 'Farewell.' This was the last word 
he ever spoke, and soon after, turning 
upon his side and holding the doctor's 
hand, the angels of God claimed his 
spirit from us, leaving us to mourn our 
loss, and triumph in his gain. 



To Coward and myself the loss is 
irreparable, for with a noble assistant 
we lost a truthful, earnest friend. I 
never expect to have another fill his 
place in my respect and heart that he 
held; but I, too, trust that God has 
sanctified his death to us all." 



19 



This was the mind and the heart of 
Micah Jenkins four years before he 
passed away in the glory of battle for 
his country. 

How applicable to each, my brother 
and our friend, the words of the poet: 

"Thou wert the morning- star among 
the living. 
Ere thy fair light had fled; 
Now, having died, thou art as Hes- 
perus, giving 
New splendor to the dead." 



But the inner life and the soul of 
Micah Jenkins we find further grandly 
unfolded in the letters received by his 
wife, herself the noblest type of wo- 
manhood, and soon after the tragic end- 
ing of her husband's brilliant career on 
his last field of battle. 



Headquarters Palmetto Sharpshooters, 
near Richmond, Va., May 28, 1862. 
My Beloved Wife: I got a letter five 
days old today, nad was happy to hear 
from you again. I am now in the 
hands of my God, wife, and I entrust 
you and my dear children to His fath- 
erly keeping. The great battle is very, 
very near, I think. I trust our prayers 
may be favorably considered by our 
God and that His hand will cover and 
protect me, so that when this unhappy 
war is over I may live to be a husband 
to you and a father to my children. 
If it please God to take me away, thus 
early in life, bid my children, when 
they are old enough to understand, 
to be good and true men, doing their 
duty to you, to their country and 
their God. Guard and guide them as 
if I were with you, and be to me a 
true wife, till God unites us in Heaven. 
I trust and believe the coming fight 
will triumphantly vindicate the right- 
eousness of our cause, and though I 
may fall, yet I hope a blessed peace will 
soon give back tc^our country the com- 
fort and prospertty so much to be de- 
sired. At my country's feet I lay my 
young life. Into God's keeping I leave 
you. Yours till death, 

M. Jenkins. 



THE REV. JAMES McDOWELL'S 
LETTER. 

The Rev. James McDowell, the chap- 
lain of one of General Jenkins's regi- 
ments, in a letter dated Petersburg, 
Va., July 11, 1864, thus writes to Mrs. 
Jenkins of his last interviews with her 
husband: 

"I saw your dear husband twice after 
his last return from home, and had 
each time a pleasant interview with 
him. The first of these occasions was 
the very day he got back to camp. 
The Rev. Mr. Craig went with me and 
we called on him in h^'s tent. Al- 
though he was not well he met us in 



his usual warm-hearted and cordial 
manner. From his inquiries and con- 
versation he appeared to feel a deeper 
interest in the spiritual welfare of his 
brigade than I ever witnessed before, 
and more anxious than ever, by his 
example and influence, to promote the 
cause of that Savior whom he pro- 
fessed and on whom he relied. Little 
did I think then that he would so soon 
be taken from us, but I believe that 
God was then, and had been for some 
time before, preparing him for the 
great and important change he was 
soon to experience. I believe that the 
death of his and your dear little child 
last fall, then the death of his dear 
mother, whom he seemed to love so 
tenderly, and then your illness, that 
he spoke to me about and that had 
caused him so much anxiety; as well 
as other dealings of God with him, 
were blessed to his soul and were used 
as means by a gracious and merciful 
God in lifting him above the things of 
this world and ripening him for that 
bright and happy home to which I 
trust and believe he has gone. The 
next time I saw the general, which 
was the last time we ever conversed 
together in the world, was the day 
before he fought his last battle. He 
was not well enough to ride on horse- 
back without pain, and consequently 
traveled in an ambulance, for we were 
on our march to the battlefield. I 
rode along by his ambulance for some 
distance and remained with him some 
little time during one of the rests. "We 
conversed pleasantly together on vari- 
ous subjects, and amongst other 
things we spoke of the delightful time 
we all spent together on the Black- 
water, when you and Mrs. McDowell 
came and visited us. He seemed to 
look back to it with great pleasure. 
The next day he was brought back to 
our hospital about midday — from the 
battlefield where he had received his 
mortal wound — in an ambulance. As 
soon as the ambulance stopped I hur- 
ried into it, stooped down by the gen- 
eral and called him, hoping I would 
be able to converse with him, but he 
was insensible, could not speak. It 
was truly an affecting sight and one I 
shall long remember. He was taken 
into a tent, where he died about 5 
o'clock Friday evening. I saw him a 
number of times after he was laid 
out, dressed in his uniform and cov- 
ered with his battleflag. There was a 
pleasant smile on his face, and he 
looked as if in a sweet sleep. Saturday 
the band of the Sixth regiment played 
"Old Hundred" in a very solemn and 
impressive manner as his remains were 
being removed from the tent to the 
ambulance, and afterwards a solemn 
funeral dirge as they were carried off. 
The death of General Jenkins was not 
only deeply felt by his brigade, but by 



20 



many others, and by even those who 
were not personally acquainted with 
him. I feel that I have lost one of my 
best friends in the army, and can 
scarcely realize that I will never again 
in this world look upon his noble, man- 
ly face and receive his warm and kind- 
ly greetings. It was at his invitation 
that I came on as chaplain of the regi- 
ment to which I am attached, and I 
shall always cherish his memory with 
feelings of love and respect. I feel 
that we have lost a brave and noble 
and a gallant leader, and also a true 
friend, but I believe he wfis a Chris- 
tian and that our loss was his eternal 
gain. Captain Sims told me that not 
long ago the general proposed one day, 
after he came back from home, to send 
for me to have prayers with him, and 
that they would have done so, but an 
order came for marching, which pre- 
vented their doing so. Tour true 
friend, 

(Rev.) James McDowell. 



LETTER OF DR. F. L. PARKER, 
SURGEON, C. S. A. 
Near Ayletts Station, Va., 
May 29, 1864. 

Nearly two years ago my brother fell 
on the field of battle — his wife prized 
so highly all letters which the affec- 
tion and interest of friends dictated — 
she would keep them, she said, for her 
children. * 

Believing, my dear Mrs. Jenkins, 
that you, too, will appreciate similar 
offerings of friendship and regard on 
the part of your late lamented hus- 
band's friends, I have intended almost 
daily to write with a view of express- 
ing to you my profound sympathy — 
to communicate my sincere sorrow, 
to tell you that there were those in the 
army who felt very deeply for and with 
you. I also wished to detail some of 
the circumstances attending the last 
moments when, among others attached 
to him, we watched the gradual de- 
cline of one with whom we had shared 
the happy hours of camp life, whose 
confidence we had enjoyed, whose 
noble manly qualities we esteemed, 
whose gallantry, promptitude, and dash 
was admitted, and above all, whose 
piety and genuine worth we fully ap- 
preciated. 

The general was wounded about 1 
p. m. on the 6th, in the battle of the 
"Wilderness. He left his ambulance to 
mount his horse when many men 
would have retired to the rear. He 
had not been well since his return to 
his command. The circumstances at- 
tending his wound are too melancholy 
to allude to. Like Jackson, he fell by 
the unfortunate fire of his friends, the 
country knows it — all unite in lament- 
ing an accident so unfortunate, so fatal. 



God, who had shielded him on so 
many fields of blood and carnage, 
who had protected him in the glorious 
advance of his brigade on this oc- 
casion, whose banner he upheld and 
whose cross he carried with the piety 
of a patriot and the zeal of a Con- 
federate soldier — God permitted the 
bolt which removed him from us, 
cutting short a brilliant career, a hope- 
ful, promising future. 

But, Mrs. Jenkins, his old staff claim 
to share the privilege of mf^urnrig with 
you, of sorrowing over the death of 
one whose affection we valued, whose 
regard we esteemed, in whose bright 
promise and gradual advance we par- 
ticipated, and whose death we shall 
deplore with that deep humility min- 
gled with profound regret belonging 
only to pure friendship. 

Soon after he was wounded he was 
brojight to the infirmary. Every com- 
fort afforded in the field he had. Pro- 
fessional aid was useless. I could do 
nothing but join with other friends in 
lamenting a fatality we could not help, 
a blow we tried to be resigned to. Un- 
usual feeling was manifested through- 
out the whole division. Nothing could 
have gratified us more, and amidst all 
the sadness of that occasion we no- 
ticed men, rough, weatherbeaten and 
worn, men who had served in all the 
trying battles of the war, who had 
marched in Virginia, from Chattanooga 
to Bristol, who had endured the hard- 
ships of that terrible campaign in East 
Tennessee — we observed them, I repeat, 
with genuine tears of sorrow, saying: 
"He was a gallant man, a good gen- 
eral." 

The general lived six hours, breath- 
ing his last a little after 6 p. m. He 
was semi-conscious. Without recogniz- 
ing our voices, I think he knew we 
were with him. 

He died confident of victory, and at 
the last moment, when his gallant 
spirit took its upward flight, a bright, 
happy, trusting smile lit up his face. 
Those around watched it; we thought, 
we felt, he was with hit God. 

Personally, Mrs. Jenkins, I feel that 
I have lost a very, very warm friend; 
we all feel so; all words of mine would 
be inadequate to express how totally 
devoted he was to you and to his little 
boys. 

In the last conversation which we 
had together, except a salutation on 
the battlefield, he spoke much about 
yourself and the ties which bound him 
to his home. If this letter affords any 
consolation I shall be gratified. God 
knows how much I felt for my sister 
similarly circumstanced, and He only 
knows how much I feel for you. 

I am, madam, with respectful sym- 
pathy. Tour friend, 

(Signed) Francis L. Parker. 
To Mrs. M. Jenkins, Orangeburg. 



21 



Extract from the letter to Mrs. Jen- 
kins from the Rev. J. N. Craig, chap- 
lain of the Fifth South Carolina regi- 
ment, July 9, 1864: 

"I first became acquainted with Gen- 
eral Jenkins in 1861, when he was col- 
onel of the Fifth regiment, when I was 
chaplain of the Ninth, and he used 
frequently to attend my preaching. 
For a year before his death I was in 
his brigade and, with the other chap- 
lains, always received his courteous, 
respectful treatment and attention. 
When he last came from home he 
reached our camp on Sabbath, May 1. 
That evening Brother McDowell and I 
were both at his tent. He told us that 
it was his desire, much more than ever 
before, to further the cause of religion 
in our brigade, and that we chaplains 
must let him know always what he 
could do for us to facilitate our efforts 
in that behalf. This he ui-ged very 
openly and earnestly upon us. After- 
wards he sought an interview with 
Brother Boggs, of the Sixth, and said 
the same to him. On the 5th of May, 
1864, as we wei-e approaching the fatal 
field on which he and other gallant 
spirits gave up their lives, I being at 
the time on foot, he was kind enough 
to invite me to ride in his ambulance. 
He was reading his Bible and remarked 
to me: 'I do not see how any man 
can go into, battle who has not a hope 
that if he falls it will be well with him.' 
* * * This one thing I do believe in, 
namely, that God not only can but 
often does ripen His children just be- 
fore taking them, and I can say can- 
didly that ever since the general's 
death I have hoped that such was the 
case with him. The foregoing circum- 
stances give me that hope. He cer- 
tainly seemed to feel a deeper interest 
in the religious welfare of the others 
and a greater desire to woik for the 
church after his last retui'n to camp 
than before. * * * Do not understand 
me to say that I think General Jenkins 
became a Christian just before his 
death. I hope he was long, long before 
a child of God and that his latter days 
gave evidence that God, 

" 'Who moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform,' " 

was thus causing him to grow in grace 
more rapidly than at any previous 
period — ripening him for the great har- 
vest of glory He was so soon intended 
to place before him. I trust that your 
husband is now reaping that harvest 
of peace and glory. 

"J. N. Craig, 
"Chaplain Fifth S. C. Regiment." 



Letter from the eminent divine, Dr. 
B. M. Palmer: 

Columbia, S. C, May 25, 1864. 

My Dear Mrs. Jenkins: I have great- 
ly desired to write you after I heard 



of the overwhelming sorrow which has 
fallen upon you, but grief like yours 
seems to me so awful that I feared to 
enter its sanctuary. Will you permit me 
to sit just outside at the door and min- 
gle my lamentations with the deep sob 
which breaks from your heart. In the 
first access of great bereavement, the 
soul turns away in bitterness from 
proffered sympathy, it falls so far be- 
low the proportions of our own grief 
as to seem but a mockery. The heart 
craves to be alone with its sorrows, 
and finds a melancholy pressing down 
to the bosom the sharp point by which 
it has been pierced. I will not deny 
you the luxury of secret grief, and feel 
that it is almost profane to disturb by 
this letter the communion which you 
hold with your own sad and bitter 
thoughts. I will not be so indiscreet as 
to utter words of consolation. The 
time has not yet come for that. He 
will comfort you most who can most 
fully share anguish and meet tears 
which are nearly as bitter as your own. 
If an apology is needed for obtruding 
these lines upon you I would plead 
what had seemed to me a singular co- 
incidence. On the 25th of April, I trav- 
eled on my way to the General Assem- 
bly a whole day with your lamented 
husband. It happened to be an accom- 
modation train, on which were few 
passengers, and we sat side by side 
from Columbia to Chester, where he 
broke off to YorkvUle. During this in- 
terview of so many hours, he related to 
me his whole military history, and I 
could not but admire the high intelli- 
gence which marked his conversation, 
and more than all the sincere and un- 
ostentatious piety which pervaded it 
throughout. I parted from him with 
an audible prayer that God would bless 
him, keep him and restore him in 
safety to those whom he loved. Little 
did I dream that within two weeks the 
dead body of my friend would be with 
me on the same train on which I was 
returning to my home. Yet so it was. 
We traveled together both ways, once 
as he was alive and buoyant, going to 
the fatal field where his last battle 
was to be fought, and again when his 
sword lay an idle ornament above his 
bier. In the early dawn, the sole living 
friend, I walked beside his hearse 
through the silent streets of Columbia, 
as a small military escort, with solemn 
martial music, conveyed his mortal re- 
mains to the Arsenal Hill. Shall I tell 
you also of the peculiar circumstances 
under which I heard the announcement 
of his death? A day had been set 
apart by the General Assembly to dis- 
cuss the whole subject of missions to 
the army. The Rev. B. T. Lay, one of 
our commissioners to the troops in 
Virginia, was making an eloquent and 
pathetic address which melted the au- 
dience into tears. He was twice in- 
terrupted by dispatches brought into 



22 



the church and read from the platform, 
announcing the triumph of our arms 
across the Mississippi and on the blood- 
stained fields of Virginia, and at the 
close of this last the heavy tidings fell 
upon my ears that General Jenkins was 
killed. With what crushing weight 
those words fell upon my heart! I 
strove for two days to be incredulous, 
hoping against hope that there was 
some mistake in the name. It seemed 
impossible that the brave and gallant 
and Christian friend with whom I had 
conversed through a whole day's trav- 
el, just a little before, was now no 
more, but this stubborn skepticism had 
to give way to a feeling of sadness 
which I have not since thrown off. It 
is true my acquaintance with your hus- 
band was far from intimate, but he be- 
longed to his country, an4 his patriot- 
ism, his bravery, his distinguished ser- 
vice to the cause which lies so near my 
heart — all these had made him my 
brother. Then I, too, had married him. 
Memory went back to the morning 
when with the rising sun I was permit- 
ted to witness and to seal that holy 
covenant, the joy of which is now turn- 
ed to bitter sorrow for you, my poor 
afflicted sister. If I knew him but 
slightly, I had at least been associated 
with him in one of the most sol- 
emn and sacred actions of his 
life. There were associations with 
him through you, as your hus- 
band he could not be a stranger to 
me. The warm affection I have for 
your father, and the tender recollec- 
tions spent with you at your father's 
home, would have led me to follow him 
with my eyes had life long stretched 
out to fourscore years. When that dis- 
mal telegram was read in the open 
assembly of my church, I bowed my 
head and wept for the sorow that had 
come upon you, tasting, perhaps, at 
that very same moment the first bitter- 
ness of widowhood. Would to God that 
I could put sweetness into that 
draught. But no, it is only given you 
to say with your great Master, "if this 
cup cannot pass from me except I 
drink it. Thy will be done." It has not 
passed from you; you must drink it, 
daughter of sorrow, even to its dregs, 
and we who witness the torture of your 
spirit must feel the almost equal an- 
guish of witnessing the grief — the grief 
which we cannot alleviate. It would be 
a relief if we could so place our souls 
in your soul's stead as to bear a part 
of this heavy load. But sorrow does 
not admit of distribution. The sorrow 
which we feel is our sorrow, and it 
does not lighten yours. God has placed 
you under the rod; and it smarts not 
the less for you that others feel it, 
too. What can we do but pray the 
God of ?'l consolation to fill you with 
all joy aiid peace in believing that you 
may abound in hope by the power of 
the Holy Ghost. 



There are sources of comfort even 
in this affliction, to which you will 
gratefully turn, so soon as grief ceases 
to be a luxury. Tou will rejoice that 
he has left a stainless name to his 
children. You will be happy when a 
grateful nation owns the debt of love 
and honor which is his due. You will 
feel the dignity of his death — laying 
down his life upon the altar of his 
country. A generous and noble pride 
will sustain you when you shall read 
his name among the martyrs whom a 
whole people will unite to reverence 
and praise, and a thousandfold greater 
comfort will fill your heart when you 
can take time to realize that he has 
gone up to be with the redeemed. You 
will think gratefully of that splendid 
flight which has borne him upwards to 
be with immortals. Even in your deep 
grief, thank God that he was a Chris- 
tian, that you are not driven to shut 
in your thoughts so that they shall not 
venture to cross the grave. Bless God 
with fervor of soul that you can follow 
him in thought to the far beyond and 
lift the veil which hides the eternal 
world from human eyes. All these re- 
flections will come up in their due time, 
and will be full of sweetness. At pres- 
ent your greatest happiness is to weep. 
Weep then. Jesus wept. Why not we? 
Weep freely those tears which nature 
exacts as her tribute, and when the 
hour shall come to dry those tears, may 
the Comforter, which is the Holy 
Ghost, bring to your remembrance the 
promises of God, so freely given to 
the fatherless and widow. 

Most truly yours, 

B. M. Palmer. 



It is, as I have always maintained, 
too much the fashion to ignore more 
or less the wives of mothers or the 
fathers of great men in arms or State, 
letters or church, when the biographer 
executes his work. How often is it 
that the mother lays the groundwork 
of the son's eminence, and how often is 
the wife the inspiration of the hus- 
band's achievements, and how some- 
times the father molds the son's char- 
acter. One incident in Micah Jenkins's 
life as a boy of about 12 years reveals 
the strong influence that his mother 
exerted over him. About to undergo 
a most severe and painful operation in 
the extraction of a large size fish hook 
that had buried itself in his wrist, the 
surgeon proceeded to administer some 
whiskey to sustain him in the ordeal 
of suffering that he was to undergo, 
but the boy firmly refused to take the 
stimulant, saying that he had pro- 
mised his mother never to take a drink 
of intoxicating liquor. So he bravely 
submitted to the surgeon's knife with- 
out chloroform or stimulating drug, 
although his strong will could not 



23 



prevent him from fainting under the 
excruciating pain that he endured. 

The wife of General Jenkins was the 
beautiful, beloved and accomplished 
daughter of Gen. D. F. Jamison, sol- 
dier, scholar and statesman, one of the 
founders of the South Carolina Mili- 
tary Academy, the author of the ex- 
quisite volume entitled "Life and 
Times of Bertrand du Guesclin," and 
the president of the secession conven- 
tion. I knew Miss Carrie Jamison in the 
days of her youth and her beauty as 
the favorite daughter of an honored 
friend. She was worthy of Micah Jen- 
kins, as Micah Jenkins was worthy of 
her. I knew her afterwards when she 
was the ornament of her husband's 
home in Yorkville, S. C, and the moth- 
er of his children. In my sketch, in 
Thomas' History of South Carolina 
Mil tary Academy of General Jamison, 
one of the best men I ever knew, and 
one who was to me, "guide, philoso- 
pher and friend," the following ap- 
pears: 

"So much for Gen. D. F. Jamison in 
his public role. But splendid as that 
was, his private life shed no less luster 
on his honored name. Its exceeding 
beauty is revealed to the light of day 
in the tribute paid to his memory by 
his favorite child, the widow of the 
noble-hearted, high-souled Gen. Micah 
Jenkins, herself the type of gracious 
womanhood, worthy alike of such a 
father and such a husband. Says Mrs. 
Jenkins in her letter to the writer: 

" 'You ask how my father appeared to 
me from a daughter's standpoint. You 
may not know, but my father educated 
me from my 10th year. I was his con- 
stant companion until my marriage in 
my 19th year. My girlhood was spent 
almost entirely in his library. I cared 
but little for the outside world, so con- 
tent was I with my dear father's so- 
ciety. As I look back to those years 
so blessed, my father appears to my 
mature judgment, as he did then, as 
the embodiment of all that is lovely in 
men, a devoted husband, a wise and 
tender parent, a kind master always 
courteous to others, regardful f>ver of 
the feelings of inferiors. I have rarely 
met any one resembling him. I have 
loved to recall his perfect devotion to 
and trust in me. This has helped to 
sustain me under the heavy burdens I 
have borne these many years. While 
of the strictest integrity, he was pitiful 
to the failings of those less favored 
than himself. It has saddened me to 
see how little already is known of him 
in the State to which his life was so en- 
tirely devoted. I do rejoice that his 
memory is so dear to you.' " 

Of the father of Micah Jenkins, the 
epitome of the man's life and character 
might be summed up in the Tennyson- 
ian description of one "who bore with- 
out abuse the grand old name of gen- 
tleman." Capt. John Jenkins was the 



soul of honor. He was one of the 
knightly men who adorned Edisto 
Island in the brave days of old when 
English barons seemed to be living on 
the coast of South Carolina. Brave as 
a lion, he was yet a prince of peace. 
The peer of the highest on the island, 
he was nevertheless the friend of the 
humblest, and a man who believed in 
the aristocracy of virtue and mefit. 
For several years he represented Edisto 
Island, Charleston, as senator in the 
General Assembly of the State — no ora- 
tor but a most efficient and working 
member. He was, however, a busy 
reader and a charming conversation- 
alist. In physique he was a fine type 
of manhood, six feet one inch and a 
half high, and stoutly built. People 
acquainted with the conditions in South 
Carolina befSre the great War Between 
the Sections know how a system pre- 
vailed in the Southern States not un- 
like the feudal system in Northern 
Europe. The planters were the south- 
ern barons. Captain Jenkins was one 
of the barons on Edisto Island. But 
planter and baron though he was, he 
was a man in thorough sympathy with 
all the white people on the island. He 
was a man of the people, a genuine 
American Democrat. To illustrate the 
characteristic, it may be stated how 
it was his habit from time to time to 
bring together all the overseers of the 
island and to entertain them in his 
house, to wine and dine his fellow citi- 
zens of that well-known class in the 
South. Captain Jenkins was a noble 
subscriber to the manly words of 
Burns in his ode: "For a' that arfd a' 
that," one stanza of which thus reads: 

"What though on hamely fare we dine, 
Wear hoddin gray, and a' that? 
Gie fools their silks and knaves their 

wine, 
A man's a man for a' that; 
For a' that and a' that. 
Their tinsel show and a' that; 
The honest man, though e'er sae poor. 
Is king of men, for a' that." 

Under the molding process of such 
parentage, and with such family pres- 
tige and with such family traditions 
as environed young Micah Jenkins, no 
wonder that he and his noble brother, 
Maj. John Jenkins, now living with his 
indomitable spirit unsubdued by age 
and disease, and his loyalty to Confed- 
erate memories unconquered and un- 
conquerable by the mutations of time 
and "the blows of circumstances" — no 
wonder, I repeat, that the Jenkins 
brothers should have become heroes in 
the War of Secession, the one in Vir- 
ginia and in Tennessee and the other 
on the coast of South Carolina, the lat- 
ter a major only, and yet a major only 
because, for reasons chivalric, he de- 
clined the tender of a brigadier-gen- 
eralship. 



The Jenkins family tree was deeply 
rooted in English soil. The family can 
be traced far back in the history of 
England. The family crest was a 
griffin's head and neck, with an arrow 
held in the beak, with a baton under- 
neath. This was also the crest of Sir 
Leoline Jenkins, who was knighted on 
the field of battle by Henry VII, thus 
linking the J%nkinses of England with 
the Jenkinses of Edisto. 

In American history the name of 
Capt. Joseph Jenkins appears on one 
of the original Revolutionary muster 
rolls. On the "List of officers of the 
South Carolina line, upon the conti- 
nental establishment during the war of 
the Revolution, 1775-1783," gotten up by 
the late Gen. Wilmot G. DeSaussure, 
there appears the name of, Joseph Jen- 
kins, first lieutenant. Second regiment. 
On the "List of officers of the militia 
of South Carolina who took part in the 
war of the Revolution, 1775-1783," pre- 
pared by the same writer, are enrolled 
the names of Capt. John Jenkins, St. 
Helenas Island Volunteers; Capt. Thos. 
Jenkins, Colonel Rothmaler's regi- 
ment; Capt. Joseph Jenkins, Edisto 
Island Volunteers; Ensign Benjamin 
Jenkins, Edisto Island Volunteer com- 
pany, Colleton county regiment; Lieut. 
Joseph Jenkins, Colleton county regi- 
ment; Lieut. Reuben Jenkins, Colonel 
Kolb's regiment, Marion's brigade; 
Lieut. James Jenkins, Colonel Benton's 
regiment, Marion's iDrigade. 

It thus appears that the name of 
Jenkins is enrolled nine times on the 
Revolutionary list. 

The sons of Micah Jenkins and Car- 
rie Jamison Jenkins now living are 
Maj. Micah J. Jenkins, to whom was 
recently presented a handsome sword 
by his friends in South Carolina, in 
consideration of his gallantry in the 
late war with Spain, the presentation 
being made in terms of highest praise 
by President Roosevelt, who, a colonel 
in the regiment of Rough Riders, was 
himself the witness of Capt. Jenkins's 
superb bearing under a heavy fire of 
shot and shell upon the slope of the 
hill of San Juan. The other well- 
known sons of Gen. Jenkins are Robert 
Flavel, William Edward and John Mur- 
ray Jenkins, Captain U. S. A., and late 
efficient commander of cadets, S. C. 
M. A., all honoring their father's 
name and cherishing his memory 
with filial loyalty born of a spirit 
kindred to their parents, in whom true 
manhood and true womanhood were so 
happily illustrated. 

The surviving brothers of Micah Jen- 
kins are Maj. John Jenkins of Charles- 
ton, S. C, and that accomplished phy- 
sician, residing in Florida, Dr. Edward 
E. Jenkins. The characteristic of gen- 
erosity has ever attached to the Jen- 
kins family. Ramsay says in the ap- 
pendix to his "History of South Caro- 



lina" in the statistical account of Edisto 
Island: "The Episcopalians of Edisto 
were originally connected in worship 
and discipline with the parish church 
of Johns Island, and had divine service 
performed for them at occasional in- 
tervals. Being liable to various disap- 
pointments in their expectation of di- 
vine service, they were led to separate 
from that church. In effecting that 
separation they built in 1774, by sub- 
scription, a neat and commodious 
chapel, and some time after created a 
permanent fund for the support of 
their ministers. The zeal and liberality 
displayed by theig on these occasions, 
considering the paucity of their mem- 
bers, refiects great credit on the parties 
concerned." Dr. Ramsay then gives a 
list of these liberal subscribers. Among 
them the following names occur: Chris- 
topher Jenkins, £200; Daniel Jenkins, 
£150; Joe Jenkins, £150; Isaac Jenkins, 
£125; Daniel Jenkins Jr., £50— six 
good churchmen, and true to "the 
grave ritual brought from England's 
shore." 



PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF MI- 
CAH JENKINS. 

I have reserved for the last my per- 
sonal impressions of Micah Jenkins. 
He entered the Citadel the year I was 
graduated therefrom. Being one of the 
assistant instructors drawn from the 
first class to help in the instruction of 
the fourth class, I bore for the year 
the relation of cadet preceptor to the 
class of Jenkins in the department of 
English. It was, as I remember, the 
day that he matriculated that he stated 
to me, as we stood together near the 
sally port of the Citadel, that he in- 
tended to be first in his class. This he 
stated not arrogantly but resolutely, 
and although his fellow graduates of 
the class of 1854 were such good men 
and true as Hart, and Hoke, and Rad- 
cliffe, and Haskell, and Adams, and 
Steadman, and Coward, and Fleming, 
and Mazyck, and Culpeper, and Jami- 
son, yet the record shows that no one of 
his classmates excelled him either in 
scholarship or soldiership. He was the 
type of a brave, enthusiastic, manly, 
hightoned youth, with fine ideals, who 
cherished noble longings for the strife 
of life. His was a personality at once 
strong and graceful, and to the teacher 
and his associates in the corps of 
cadets so striking that I may say: "I 
marked him as a far Alp, and loved to 
watch the sunrise" in his beaming eyes. 
How well he fulfilled the promise of his 
cadetship, as co-founder and co -man- 
ager with his classmate, Asbury Cow- 
ard, at the Kings Mountain Military 
School, and as a soldier of the Southern 
Confederacy from 1861 to 1864, this 
paper attests, as it shows him shower- 
ing honors upon his alma mater, his 



25 



family, his State, and his country — his 
brave heart to the very last responding 
to the grand sentiment of men who 
would be free: 

"Thy spirit, Independence, let me 

share, 
Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye." 

Micah Jenkins died in the bloom of 
youth, after a career brief but brilliant, 
and yet long enough to give him time 
and opportunity to create the muni- 
ments of enduring character and last- 
ing fame. It is a fact that every di- 
vision commander under whom Jenkins 
served recommended him highly for 
promotion. In order to fix for all time 
his military status in the history of 
the Confederacy, "that rose so fair and 
fell so pure of crime," enough to say 
that after the battle of Second Manas • 
sas, in which Jenkins's brigade bore 
such a conspicuous part in turning the 
repulse of Pope's army into a rout, and 
in which General Jenkins was severely 
wounded, Gen. Robt. E. Lee rode up to 
General Jenkins and, congratulating 
him on his splendid fight, said: "I 
hope yet to see you one of my lieuten- 
ant-generals." 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL D. H. 
HILL'S TRIBUTE. 

General Hill, slow to praise, said of 
Gen. Micah Jenkins: 

"Adjutant- and Inspector-General 
Cooper: In leaving the district of 
North Carolina I feel it due to Briga- 
dier-General Jenkins that attention 
should be called to his extraordinary 
merit. At Seven Pines his brigade was 
under my immediate notice, and by his 
skilful handling rendered more service 
than any two engaged. His disposi- 
tions on the Blackwater and around 
Richmond always excited my admira- 
tion. 

"I know no brigadier in the service 
more worthy of promotion. He has 
all the qualities necessary to make him 
a most efficient division commander. 

"With great respect, D. H. Hill, 
"Lieutenant-General." 



Gen. Wade Hampton said: "Micah 
Jenkins was the finest soldier I ever 
saw." 



Micah Jenkins showed that the age 
of chivalry survived in our southland. 
In his breast the flower of a knight- 
hood such as grew in the medieval 
age of Europe bloomed, adorning the 
home, beautifying the battle and lend- 
ing its fragrance to the air of the 
South. 



On the perilous edge of battle, or at 
the head of his charging lines, with 
his fine features lighted up with such 
gaudia certaminis as Christian soldiers 
feel, Jenkins was wont to appear as 
the incarnation of the genius of war, as 
the personification of valor. Further- 
more, he handled his command with 
the precision of the cool and skilful 
tactician. ♦ 

As was said of Arthur Henry Hallam, 
to whose memory Tennyson's "In Me- 
mofiam" is a tribute more enduring 
than marble, so may it be said of 
Micah Jenkins, superb soldier and 
Christian gentleman: 

"And thou hadst won in the first strife 
of youth 
Trophies that gladdened hope and 

pointed on 
To days when we should stand and 

minister 
To the full triumphs of thy gathered 
strength." 

In response to the suggestion of Mrs. 
S. Reed Stoney of Columbia, some of 
the patriotic and appreciative women 
of the capital of South Carolina, the 
State to which Micah Jenkins was as 
loyal and devoted as ever cavalier was 
to king in English story, have proposed 
to secure a portrait in oil of the match- 
less brigadier, to whom a major-gener- 
alship was in view when divine pro- 
motion came upon the field of the Wil- 
derness, and to place in our capitol the 
picture, alongside of Gordon, and 
Hampton, and Kershaw, and Butler, 
and Gary. May this happy thought of 
South Carolina's womanhood be 
promptly seconded and consummated 
by her responsive manhood, and may 
the best art of the country be engaged 
to place on the glowing canvas the 
lineaments of the soldier "without fear 
and without reproach," the Bayard of 
the Palmetto State — as brave as Ney, 
as tender as Sidney, as daring as 
Murat. It has been said by Trescot in 
his fine English: 

"The fame of the soldier is a high 
and holy fame. Founded on self-sacri- 
fice and achieved through suffering, it 
shines from mountain to seashore with 
protecting effulgence and lights up 
every hearthstone in the land with the 
solemn radiance of national feeling." 

Such is the fame of Gen. Micah Jen- 
kins. 

After the lapse of nearly 40 memorial 
years, the guardian angel of Confeder- 
ate memories, arrayed now in the white 
robes of Peace, with honor seems to 
say, as she points to the youthful war- 
rior's name on the historic page: 
"The knight's bones are dust. 

And his good sword rust; 

His soul is with the saints, I trust." 

Columbia, Sept. 22, 1903. 



26 



APPENDIX. 



THE GENEALOGY OF THE JENKINS FAMILY FROM THE ORIGINAL RECORDS ; 
COPY FURNISHED BY HA-WKINS K. JENKINS, ESQ. 



The Jenkins family of the coast of 
South Carolina came originally from 
Glamorganshire, Wales, and by family 
tradition, claim descent from Llewel- 
lyn, one of the last of the petty Welsh 
kings. 

The name was originally Ap Shankins. 
Spreading over to England the name 
became Anglicized and changed to 
Jenkins. The most distinguished of the 
name in England was Juade David 
Jenkins, who, being a staunch Royal- 
ist, refused to acknowledge the Rump 
government; spent sixteen years in the 
Tower rather than allow it to be stated 
in public that he recognized the au- 
thority of the Rump parliament, al- 
though his liberty was offered him on 
that condition more than once; was led 
out for execution, but being permitted 
to speak to the populace, with his 
Book of Common Prayer in one hand 
and the laws of England in the other, 
made so deep an impression on the 
public that the authorities returned 
him to the Tower, saying that his 
"execution would make him a martyr 
instead of a criminal." Upon the res- 
toration he was set at liberty and had 
many honors heaped upon him from 
the Crown. (See Dictionnaire Biog- 
raphie.) Sir Leoline Jenkins was am- 
bassador to Prance, negotiated several 
treaties of importance, and held the 
privy seal for a number of years. He 
never married. 

About the year 1700 the family^ first 
appear in this country, when three 
brothers, John, Joseph and Richard, 
came over. John and Joseph settled on 
St. Helena Island, Beaufort County, 
and Richard settled finally in Pennsyl- 
vania, where the family is now large 
and influential, with branches in Vir- 
ginia, Maryland and New York. From 
him were descended the late Gen. Al- 
bert Gallatin Jenkins, C. S. A., of Vir- 
ginia, and Rear Admiral Thornton Jen- 
kins, U. S. N. The South Carolina 
branch gradually spread along the 
coast, always keeping within reach of 
tidewater. Gov. Charles J. Jenkins of 
Georgia was of this family. 

Gen. Micah Jenkins was descended 
from Joseph Jenkins. His grandfather, 



Joseph Jenkins, at the age of 17 years 
was a lieutenant in the St. Helena Vol- 
unteers, and later in the Continental 
army. He stood 6 feet 4 inches in his 
stocking feet at 21 years of age, and 
was a man of great mental activity 
and physical strength. He married 
Elizabeth Evans (this family of 
Evans is now extinct), moved to 
Edisto Island, and in 1791 bought 
"Brick House" plantation, which has 
never since been out of the family, and 
is now owned and occupied by his 
grandson, John Micah Jenkins. He 
was for years a member of the General 
Assembly, was an eloquent and force- 
ful speaker, and it is said that on more 
than one occasion the lower House ad- 
journed in order to hear his speech on 
measures of importance. He had quite 
a large family, of whom Col. Joseph E. 
Jenkins and Capt. John Jenkins were 
the most noted. Col. Joseph E. Jen- 
kins was commissioned captain in the 
War of 1812, but very greatly to his 
regret was prevented from getting into 
active service. He represented his par- 
ish in the State Senate as long as he 
would consent to do so, and was a 
member of the Secession Convention. 
Like his father, he was a man of large 
physique, being 6 feet 2 inches in 
height, and well proportioned. He had 
six sons, all of whom were over 6 feet 
tall. 

Capt. John Jenkins was also a large 
man, being 6 feet 1% inches in 
height. He, too, represented his parish 
in the General Assembly for a number 
of years. He left three sons, viz.: Maj. 
John Jenkins, one of the knightliest 
men this State has ever produced; Dr. 
Edward E. Jenkins, a distinguished 
physician of high character, and Gen. 
Micah Jenkins. These two brothers. 
Col. Joseph E. Jenkins and Capt. John 
Jenkins, were most distinguished for 
their unbending integrity, invincible 
courage, exceeding courtesy and 
boundless hospitality. They gave to 
the Southern Confederacy between 
them seven sons, to wit: Col. Joseph 
E. gave, in the order of their age, Jos- 
eph E. Jr., Paul P., lieutenant and sur- 
geon, John M., lieutenant, and George 



27 



M. His other two sons died before the 
war. Capt. John gave the three above 
named. But two of Col. Joseph E. Jen- 
kins' sons have sons now living, to 
wit: Dr. Paul F. Jenkins left three 
sons, James J., Paul F. and Hawkins 
K. Jenkins, who has represented his 
country in General Assembly in both 
branches for eight years. John M. Jen- 
kins has one son, Edward J. Jenkins. 
Of Capt. John Jenkins's sons, Maj. 
John Jenkins had two sons, George W. 
S. Jenkins (now deceased), captain of 
the tugboat "Juno," to whom were pre- 
sented medals by the United States 
and Norwegian governments for con- 
spicuous skill and bravery displayed 
by him in rescuing the crew of the 
Norwegian bark "Riga" off the en- 
trance to Port Royal harbor in the 
storm of 1893, and Micah, who was an 
ensign (U. S. Volunteers), in the late 
war with Spain. 

Dr. Edward E. Jenkins has two sons 
living in other States. Gen. Micah Jen- 
kins left four sons. Maj. Micah J., who 
so greatly distinguished himself in the 
Cuban campaign as to cause his pro- 



motion to the majority over his senior 
captains, and as stated by President, 
then Colonel, Roosevelt, "by their unan- 
imous request"; Robert F., William E., 
and John M., U. S. A., under whose 
skilled training the South Carolina 
Military Academy was brought to such 
a high state of military excellence that 
it was ranked by the United States 
War Department ahead of all military 
schools of the country, and next to 
West Point. 

The family has clung tenaciously to 
its ancient traditions and characteris- 
tics as we gather these from its his- 
tory, and which are succinctly ex- 
pressed in the motto born upon its 
arms: "Vigiliis et Virtute." 

Arms — Argent, three cocks. Gules, a 
mullet for difference. 

Crest — A Griffin's head with an ar- 
row in its beak, with a baton under- 
neath. "This," says Sir Blandy Jen- 
kins of Wales, writing in 1897, "could 
only be used by descendants of the 
Welsh kings." 

Motto — Vigiliis et Virtute. 




28 



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